Study quells fears of IT outsource impact

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H1-b Info

Some encouraging news about H-1b's
from: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2003/11/03/job_seekers_in_us_say_visa_program_takes_away_work/

Maria Schafer, an analyst who studies workplace issues for Meta Group Inc., a Stamford, Conn., research firm, called workers' anger toward the H-1B program misplaced. The visas were primarily used during the Internet boom to fill jobs as American companies finalized their outsourcing plans, she said.

"It was just a stopgap," she said.

Still, the hiring of foreign workers goes on despite the depression in tech employment. High-tech companies say they use H-1B workers to fill jobs for which they cannot find qualified Americans. Intel Corp., the semiconductor giant, says that as many as 5 percent, or nearly 4,000 of its 79,000 employees, were hired through the H-1B program.

"That small percentage is comprised of individuals possessing unique and difficult-to-find skills which can only be acquired through advanced, university-level education," Patrick J. Duffy, a human resources lawyer for Intel, testified in a September congressional hearing on

H-1B visas. Several unemployed workers have filed lawsuits against companies, including the computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc., for allegedly discriminating against some American employees by laying them off while keeping

H-1B workers. Sun rebuts the charge. The AFL-CIO, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers USA, and other trade groups have called for overhauls of the

H-1B and L1 visas, which allow companies to transfer workers from foreign subsidiaries to the United States. The Communications Workers of America, a communications and media union, says it will make H-1B visas and outsourcing an issue during the 2004 presidential campaign. The H-1B program was designed to address shortages in specialized fields, including technology,

medicine, even fashion-modeling. Congress capped the number of H-1Bs at 65,000 a year in 1990. But as the Internet bubble swelled, legislators raised the cap to 115,000 in 1999 and then to 195,000 in 2000 under heavy lobbying from the high-tech industry. But since the economy began slumping in 2000, applications for H-1B visas dropped with the Nasdaq. Federal approval of H-1B visas in computer-related professions plunged 61 percent, from 191,397 in 2001 to 75,114 in 2002, according to the federal Office of Immigration Statistics.

Legislators set the cap back to 65,000 on Oct. 1, and high-tech companies put up little fight.

Posted by: bill.a.wilson@...   Posted on: 11/21/03 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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