Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 13:52:07 -0700 From: Norm Matloff Subject: more on CNet To: age discrimination/H-1B mailing list After I posted the egregiously biased CNet article yesterday (see http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/CNet2001a.txt), someone pointed out that the CNet site included a companion commentary piece by Mike Yamamoto, a CNet editor who is listed as one of the people involved in overseeing the article I posted yesterday. I'm enclosing Mr. Yamamoto's commentary below. In that piece he insists that critics of the H-1B program are racially motivated. The "evidence" he cites for that is a poll on H-1B taken by Techies.com. (Enclosed following the Yamamoto commentary below.) Yet he admits that the American respondents to the poll did not make overtly racial remarks, and Techies.com itself says that the American respondents did not resent the H-1Bs. (Techies.com says "U.S. tech workers don't resent foreign workers themselves, the survey found, but are more likely to blame employers for any problems," though some of the H-1Bs perceived prejudice.) But Mr. Yamamoto says that remarks such as "If you're going to lay people off, non-U.S. citizens should be laid off first. Use them as additional resources, not to replace people" are clear indications of racism. This really baffles me. Just what does he expect people to say? The H-1B program is portrayed by the industry lobbyists as needed to fill an IT labor shortage. (Actually, there is nothing in H-1B law about this, but my point is that this is the rationale for the program.) What does he expect the programmers laid off from Dun and Bradstreet to say, for example? They were replaced by H-1Bs, and even were forced to train those H-1Bs replacing them. I don't know whether Mr. Yamamoto has a mortgage, kids to put through college etc., but a lot of these laid-off people do, and it is outrageous for him to dismiss them as "racist" just because they complain that the H-1B program is working the way it's supposed to. Mr. Yamamoto has the nerve to compare the American programmers who are worried about feeding their families to the U.S. government's persecution of Wen Ho Lee. I was on the Steering Committee of the Wen Ho Lee Defense Fund (www.wenholee.org), so I share his outrage about the Lee case, but Mr. Yamamoto's Gigantic Leap of Logic to tie the Lee case to programmers who are worried about making a living is outrageous. Indeed, his behavior here is quite similar to that of Lee's tormentors, who for example absurdly suggested that the large number of Chinese restaurants near the Los Alamos National Laboratory "proves" that Lee was spying for China. Mr. Yamamoto was born 50 years too late. He would have made a great witch hunter during the McCarthy era. Norm http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1276-210-6806254-1.html?tag=bt_pr So much for a colorblind meritocracy CNet August 14, 2001, 4:00 AM PT By Mike Yamamoto It has been said so much that it's practically a cliche: Unlike other businesses, the forward-thinking high-tech industry is built on a colorblind meritocracy. As tempting as this is to believe, recent evidence points to what so many have denied for so long--that racial tensions are a problem among the college-educated, white-collar echelons of Silicon Valley. No one is immune to ethnic prejudice, in the workplace or elsewhere, and I seriously doubt that the high-tech industry will ever be a hotbed of outright racism. But it is important to acknowledge these early-warning signs, lest we let them fester out of some Pollyanna-like denial. Bigotry must be treated like a cancer even in its slightest form, exposed and treated with heavy doses of education and painful dialogue. see special report: Chasing the dream History has shown that people turn on each other during economic duress, whether it be a political revolution over social inequity or a divorce over how to handle household debt. Until last year, Silicon Valley had largely eluded such tension while enjoying an unprecedented bull market that promised to make everyone a millionaire. New evidence of divisions The latest signs of division emerged in a survey by industry group Techies.com that polled employee opinions over the H-1B visa program, which has lured thousands of engineers and other skilled workers from other countries, primarily in Asia, to work in the United States. The study touched a nerve with those on all sides of the issue and drew an extraordinary number of responses that went well beyond the check-box format. Many anonymous observations took a distinctly nationalistic tone, though none of the disclosed remarks made overtly racial references: "American workers are being forced out of their jobs. I am one of them. It is just a matter of time before the immigrants, H-1Bs and foreign outsourcing will take over the industry," said an unemployed application developer. [0807dialogue.gif] "If you're going to lay people off, non-U.S. citizens should be laid off first. Use them as additional resources, not to replace people," said another. True to the second stage of psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' five stages of dying, the second phase of the Net boom's demise has been anger or resentment. Publicly, this has come in the form of finger-pointing among various professions that took part in inflating the bubble, citing such factors as conflicts of interest or a lack of professional accountability. When emotions run high, however, the arguments become less rational. And few subjects are more emotional than a combination of immigration and employment. According to the Techies.com survey, 25 percent of respondents cited "U.S. workers' prejudice against non-whites" as a reason for the controversy surrounding the H-1B issue. Twenty-seven percent cited "U.S. workers' fears/mistrust of cultural practices." Most--if not all--people will acknowledge that they harbor some form of ethnic bias, however loath they may be to admit it even to themselves. I wondered how many people at technology companies viewed their Asian colleagues differently after the espionage case involving Taiwan-born engineer Wen Ho Lee (which was eventually withdrawn) and, more recently, after accusations that two native-Chinese scientists working for Lucent Technologies had passed trade secrets to a telecommunications company owned by the Beijing government. Growing anti-Asian sentiment Those incidents involved natives of other countries, as opposed to Americans of Chinese descent, but that distinction can quickly become blurred in an atmosphere of racial prejudice. My Japanese-American family saw that firsthand in their internment during World War II. Moreover, for whatever reason, anti-Asian sentiments seem particularly high these days. A recent study sponsored in part by the Anti-Defamation League found that "25 percent of Americans indicated strong negative attitudes and stereotypes toward Chinese Americans." The animus behind those findings, released in April, presumably got worse after the standoff between Washington and Beijing over custody of a felled U.S. surveillance plane--an incident that fed anti-Asian rhetoric in such high-profile forums as talk-radio shows and political cartoons in metropolitan newspapers. Not surprisingly, the controversy proliferated online. Although many have questioned the breadth and significance of a much-publicized "cyberwar" between U.S. and Chinese hackers that followed the spy plane incident, I was struck by the offensive language used in the defacement of some Web sites. Graffiti on one Chinese site read: "Hey Mr. Gook, you see what that is?! No it's not a dog and you can't eat it you silly azn's (sic). 'ohhh no sirry americran are bruffing, dey no have nucrear powrer.' THINK AGAIN YOU SILLY ASIANS!" So I cringed upon learning that the Code Red virus defaced Web pages with the phrase "Hacked by Chinese!" No one has determined where the worm originated, let alone the nationality of those responsible, but that didn't deter newsgroup postings from assuming that someone Chinese was to blame. "People and countries dont(sic) attack their 'friends' with computer worms, viruses and other debilitating attacks. Until the Chinese can act civilized, I would wish that our government officials would not call them friends," one read. Another was more blunt: "The Chinese are notorious liars." Still, the Code Red postings have been far less bilious than the remarks made over other issues. Which gives me hope that maybe those working with the Internet and high technology are in fact more reasonable than some recent polls might suggest. If the root of racism is indeed ignorance, the collective intelligence quotient of Silicon Valley should be well able to resist and combat ethnic prejudice through sensitive but honest communication at every level of the workplace. Otherwise, the industry's economic recovery could be further hampered by unfounded suspicions and bitter infighting. Either way, I'm sure I'll get angry e-mails from all sides of this issue. Some will accuse me of fanning the flames of racism, while others will call me a whiney liberal who plays the discrimination card at any given chance. To many readers, those are standard definitions of a mainstream journalist anyway--regardless of color. biography: Before joining CNET News.com in 1996, Executive Editor Mike Yamamoto worked for several daily newspapers. He has been the investigations editor of the Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau, city editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, and a news editor of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Yamamoto has also been an adjunct professor at the American University Washington and California State University at Northridge, and he has served as a visiting faculty member of the American Press Institute and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. A native of San Francisco, he holds degrees in journalism and psychology from San Francisco State University. Techies.com poll: http://bayarea.techies.com/Common/Content/2001/06/11mc_h1bsurvey.html An extra two cents The more than 1,100 people taking our H-1B survey felt strongly about their responses. Many left comments, wishes, problems and solutions. We've reprinted a few here; if you'd like to add yours send an e-mail to survey@techies.com. "U.S. companies pride themselves on being diverse, yet they clearly discriminate against non U.S. citizens? That is the most absurd contradiction that I see today in American society." - systems analyst, Central region, citizen of another country who is studying in the U.S. with an F1 Visa "American workers are being forced out of their jobs. I am one of them. It is just a matter of time before the immigrants, H-1Bs and foreign outsourcing will take over the industry." - application developer, Central region, U.S. citizen, unemployed "Sixty-five years ago my father came to America with a one-day visa to start a new, better life. Thanks to him three generations have enjoyed his dream and opportunity of a better life. Why should we deny others this same opportunity?" - computer operator, Mid-Atlantic region, U.S. citizen "Companies and government should take the initiative in high tech education like the countries they want to hire high-tech workers from." - Web developer, Western region, U.S. citizen "America is a capitalist society, and likewise one should be able to excel based on their individual skills and merits. Corporations, should also have the right to choose among whomever to fill their positions with individuals whom will most serve to its benefit, regardless of background." - PC technician, Mid-Atlantic region, U.S. citizen "If you immigrate you have to follow the rules and culture of the country you're coming in. Working in the U.S. is a gift not a right." - Christophe Augier, systems analyst, hiring manager, citizen of France who is living and working in the U.S. with a green card. - techies.com staff H-1B: The one that gets (ab)used Techies' opinions about non-U.S. workers change dramatically when things get personal. By Nick Doty The United States' H-1B visa program is just dandywhen it's not being abused. That's the majority opinion found from a techies.com survey of more than 1,100 tech professionals. They include full-time, part-time, self-employed and unemployed tech professionals throughout the U.S. and abroad. Respondents ranged from CEOs and business owners to data entry operators, and included U.S. and non-U.S. citizens. U.S. tech workers say the government, employers and techies alike are clearly mishandling the use of H-1B visas, according to the survey, and that they are all for imposing limits - especially when program abuse affects job security and pay scales. More than half said foreign workers should not be allowed into the U.S., unless a company sponsors them. Prejudice not seen as a major problem. Not surprisingly, techies with less secure positions - people in regions with lower tech demand, those with entry-level skills and those in more saturated tech professions, such as help desk support - expressed the most concern and the least tolerance for H-1B visa workers. 'There should be a comparison run between the pay the employer said they were going to pay and the income filed by the (foreign workers).' - Robert Humphrey, unemployed RF systems engineer [spacer.gif] "I think the U.S. should focus on more domestic training and recruitment of IT workers," said a help desk analyst, who is a U.S.-born citizen with less than two years of work experience. "If we do not keep our population educated in the new economy, then we are doing ourselves a disservice that will eventually lead to economic collapse." U.S. tech workers don't resent foreign workers themselves, the survey found, but are more likely to blame employers for any problems. U.S. citizens were more likely to dismiss prejudice as a problem for the temporary employees. H-1B visa workers, however, tell a very different story; they were more likely to cite bias against non-whites or religion as a basis for problems on the job. The same group strongly believes they have just as much right to U.S. jobs as U.S. citizens. "The best jobs should go to the best people. That builds strength," said one programmer analyst, a non-U.S. citizen seeking an H-1B sponsorship. "There's a lot of off-the-press, freshly minted certification types (in the U.S.), who couldn't tell you what a linker is - and they expect preferential treatment because of where they're born? What's the difference between that and preference based on skin color?" Effects on pay have techies at loggerheads. An overwhelming majority of survey respondents said "losing jobs to non-citizens" was the primary reason that H-1B visas are so controversial. But they also said, "the real reason I'm against temporary foreign workers is because they'll work for less" or "they're lowering the pay scale in my profession." That proved to be a popular sentiment among respondents, although those actually in the H-1B program disputed the pay level issue strongly. A data warehousing analyst (non-U.S. citizen) said the current government regulations on H-1B visas are very fair. "When we are hired to work in the U.S," she said, "it is because we are obviously skilled/talented and have something of value to give back to the U.S economy. Keep in mind that we pay taxes, H-1B taxes, etc. We also pay social security, which we will never stand a chance to collect because we are not U.S citizens. This money is recycled right back into the U.S economy." She pointed out that before an H-1B visa is granted, the Department of Labor verifies that a job offer to the alien will pay competitively with U.S. peers. "This process keeps the salary ranges in check." Which of the following do you feel plays a part in the controversial/sensitive nature of foreign worker/H-1B policy issues? (more than one response allowed) U.S. worries over losing jobs to non-citizens 85 U.S. worries that foreign worker hiring will cause pay scales to drop 60 U.S. workers have difficulty communicating with foreign tech workers 60 The expense/trouble required to sponsor an H-1B visa worker 47 U.S. workers fears/mistrust of different cultural practices 27 U.S. workers prejudice against non-whites 25 H-1B workers deficiencies in education or training 25 U.S. workers' fears/mistrust of non-JudeoChristian religions 12 Harold Olstad (U.S. citizen), an independent contractor with 15 years of technical experience, disagrees. "The current laws and regulations do not appear to have the welfare of the American workers in mind," he told techies.com in a related interview. "The (H-1B workers) are supposed to be paid 'no less than 95 percent of the market rate'; that simply doesn't appear to be the case." Olstad added that the "market rate," as established by the government program, is unclearly determinable and is much of the problem. Robert Humphrey (U.S. citizen), an unemployed radio frequency systems engineer in Atlanta, said the government's regulations are adequate but are not enforced. Related article "H-1B visas: Can you get one?" This much-coveted document is a permission slip for foreign techies who want to work in the United States - but it plays hard-to-get. "I worked for a company who hired H-1B people for far less than what they said they were going to pay them when they filed the applications," he told techies.com in a related interview. "There should be a comparison run between the pay the employer said they were going to pay and the income filed by the (foreign workers). Even this would be difficult to use as an enforcement tool, but something needs to be done. "The ability of high-tech businesses to get foreign labor at a discount instead of hiring U.S. workers should be stopped." Opinions change, people change. Nearly a quarter of techies surveyed said they have changed their minds about non-U.S. tech workers and the H-1B visa program in the last six months. That's not entirely because of a slower economy. Some of the managers said they'd been enthusiastic about H-1B until their employers started abusing the program. Have your feelings about non-US tech workers changed in the last six months? Yes 23% No 73% Don't know 4% Many techies and managers said their companies deliberately and sometimes openly chose to lay off U.S. workers because of their proportionately higher salaries, saving money by keeping the lower-paid temps. Those feelings certainly might account for some of the survey's negative findings. expert.techies.com To ask a question about H-1Bs or immigration law, click here. "If you're going to lay people off, non-U.S. citizens should be laid off first," said an application developer from Minneapolis who is a U.S. citizen. "Use them as additional resources, not to replace people. Companies are abusing the entire situation." The survey also found a lot of differences in opinion according to pay levels. In general, workers making more than $100,000 annually wanted government to keep out of the temporary non-U.S. worker situation. At the same time, high-salary professionals are also the most likely to complain about a non-U.S. citizen's lack of productivity or talent. If you're looking to land an H-1B visa, your region of origin can have an effect. Overall, survey respondents said people from India have the easiest time being sponsored into the U.S. by an employer, and Africans have the most trouble. Those from outside the U.S. tended to believe region of origin didn't matter; U.S. citizens definitely think it does. People from the West said Latinos, not Africans, had the toughest time finding work. For non-U.S. tech workers, which region of origin has the easiest time finding tech jobs in the U.S.? India 30% Doesn't matter 25% Asia 19% Canada 12% Western Europe 9% Eastern Europe 3% Africa 1% Latin/South America 1% Almost no one felt that a job should go unfilled rather than be given to a non-U.S. citizen. But a majority was in favor of letting the government impose some kind of political or quota restriction on visa programs. And less than one quarter were in favor of expanding the visa program.