I've written in the past about the H1-B visa program (e.g. here), a device used by American corporations to replace American workers with short term “guest” workers, who themselves are often exploited by the companies who bring them over here. There is no economic justification for this program. The companies claim that there are not enough skilled people here willing to to do the job. But the facts on the ground have always put the lie to that, as the typical process is as follows: Company decides to hire cheap foreign labor to replace its current work force; it then forces that work force to train their replacements, after which they are fired, though they are in fact ready, willing and able to do the jobs the companies say they can't fill. Well, it's good to see that some American workers are fighting back:
Kelly Parker was thrilled when she landed her dream job in 2012 providing tech support for Harley-Davidson's Tomahawk, Wisconsin, plants. The divorced mother of three hoped it was the beginning of a new career with the motorcycle company.
The dream didn't last long. Parker claims she was laid off one year later after she trained her replacement, a newly arrived worker from India. Now she has joined a federal lawsuit alleging the global staffing firm that ran Harley-Davidson's tech support discriminated against American workers — in part by replacing them with temporary workers from South Asia.
The firm, India-based Infosys Ltd., denies wrongdoing and contends, as many companies do, that it has faced a shortage of talent and specialized skill sets in the U.S. Like other firms, Infosys wants Congress to allow even more of these temporary workers.
But amid calls for expanding the nation's so-called H-1B visa program, there is growing pushback from Americans who argue the program has been hijacked by staffing companies that import cheaper, lower-level workers to replace more expensive U.S. employees — or keep them from getting hired in the first place.
…
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is among the high-profile executives pushing for more H-1Bs. The argument has long been that there aren't enough qualified American workers to fill certain jobs, especially in science, engineering and technology. Advocates also assert that some visa holders will stay and become entrepreneurs.
Critics say there is no across-the-board shortage of American tech workers, and that if there were, wages would be rising rapidly. Instead, wage gains for software developers have been modest, while wages have fallen for programmers.
The liberal Economic Policy Institute reported last year that only half of U.S. college graduates in science, engineering and technology found jobs in those fields and that at least one third of IT jobs were going to foreign guest workers.
via CNBC
The last two paragraphs tell the true story, at least they do if the law of supply and demand works for the rest of us like the John Galts claim that it works for them. If, in fact, these skills were in such demand the price of them should rise.
We already know that the Silicon Valley 1%ers were conspiring to keep wages down by agreeing not to hire one another's employees. It takes a leap of faith higher than even a Republican can leap (well, that's probably not true) to believe that there are no Americans willing to work at these jobs. No, the fact is that these companies want to repeal the law of supply and demand when it comes to them; slavery has been outlawed, but there's always the next best thing.
Here's an idea. CEO's in Asia, and even in Europe, are willing to work for far less than our home grown types. Wouldn't it make sense for Mark Zuckerberg and his ilk to bring some over on these visas and let them run our American companies for a fraction of what we pay our CEOs, even the ones that drive their companies into the ground? Just asking. (I'm sure that Mark could train his replacement admirably. It's not that hard to be a total asshole.)
Post a Comment