Date: Thu, 25 May 2006 23:45:58 -0700 From: Norm Matloff To: Norm Matloff Subject: excellent Salon article on Microsoft and H-1B To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter I must say I find the enclosed article refreshing. There have been so many articles on H-1B over the years, many of good quality, but most of them following a certain familiar pattern. It is hard to find one that takes a new view of things. This one does. The basic premise is as follows: Earlier this year Bill Gates made quite a show by personally going to DC to lobby for a higher yearly cap on H-1B visas. (Though, it was not the first time.) Congress swooned at his feet, and so did the press. Well-known columnist David Broder, for instance, met with Gates and was quite happy to write unquestioningly about Gates' message concerning H-1B. A few weeks ago I was interviewed by a writer for a DC-based national magazine, who said to me in essence, "If Gates himself is lobbying on this, then Microsoft's claim to need H-1Bs must be genuine." Yet the author of the enclosed article in Salon.com dared to think outside the box, and take a critical look at what Microsoft is really doing--and takes a critical look at how Congress will unquestioningly do whatever Microsoft and the other firms want. The following quote is priceless (though awfully depressing): * Such ardor for Gates flows from both sides of the aisle. When asked * about reports and data presented to convince Democrats on the Judiciary * Committee that the U.S. didn't have the workforce it needed to fill * these jobs, Tracy Schmaler, spokesperson for the Democrats on the * Judiciary Committee, responded: "Did you know Bill Gates has been pretty * high-profile on this?" This follows an equally fawning quote of Republican senator Arlen Spector, author of the Senate bill which would basically blow the lid off H-1B. The article attributes that to the campaign contributions made by Microsoft and the rest of the industry: * Critics of the bill, mainly academics and those who represent American * tech workers, say they have no voice on this issue; that Congress has * been blinded by campaign contributions of big companies. In 2004, * Microsoft alone spent $9.46 million on lobbying and hired 16 different * firms; it listed immigration as one of its top issues on lobbying * disclosure forms, according to data from the nonprofit Center for * Responsive Politics. That same year, computer and Internet industries * spent $70.5 million on lobbying. Those are incredible amounts. It doesn't all go to H-1B, but it sure paints an ugly picture of Congress.com. Add to that the public statements I've often cited by Sen. Bennett of Utah and Rep. Davis of VA (the latter also was chair of the Republican Congressional Campaign Finance Committee) which explicitly say that Congress expands the H-1B program because of the industry's largesse. (See http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/StealthBill.txt) Note that these companies say they need to hire H-1Bs because not enough Americans have PhDs. Yet when this reporter asked the firms to tell us just how many PhDs they do hire, the companies refuse to say. Hey, come on. Microsoft has often stated publicly how many open jobs they have, in order to bolster their case for more H-1Bs. So why can't they tell us how many of those openings are for PhDs? The answer, of course, is that very few of the openings are for PhDs, contrary to their claims that they need lots of H-1Bs because not enough Americans have PhDs. This reporter shows the most accurate view yet of the utter corruption of H-1B politics. I also especially like her finishing quote: * "There is no greater case study to understand corporate power in * politics," says Courtney of the tech workers union. "I could give you 75 * reports that prove that H-1B is a horribly flawed program that hurts * American workers, but it doesn't matter. As long as Bill Gates says * there's a shortage, and that's it, thanks for playing, game over, try * again next session." This article follows on the heels of two major revelations (also from WashTech) about Microsoft's mendacity: 1. Microsoft says that it's been heroically trying to keep software development in Redmond rather than India, but will need to send work to India if it can't get H-1Bs. Yet WashTech obtained an internal Microsoft presentation that urged all Microsoft managers to send as much development work overseas as possible. 2. Microsoft says it needs H-1Bs because it can't find enough Americans to fill its software development jobs. Yet WashTech learned that Microsoft has ordered all of its software development contractors to take a week's furlough. (See the full story on both of these points at http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/MicrosoftClaimBeliedMore.txt) Meanwhile, as I've reported recently, starting salaries for new graduates in computer science and related engineering areas have been FLAT for a number of years, completely contradicting the argument made by Microsoft and others that they need H-1Bs because U.S. universities are not graduating enough tech majors. (See the BusinessWeek blog, http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/StartingSalaryErosionBach.txt for the Bachelor's salaries, and my CIS article, at http://www.cis.org/articles/2006/back506.html for the Master's level) But as the reporter here so aptly points out, Congress doesn't need facts as long as it has Bill Gates. Great article, something different. It's a pity that it isn't longer. Norm http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/05/26/visas/ (may require your sitting through a sponsor's animated ad) What's good for Bill Gates... The Microsoft mogul says America needs more foreign engineers and programmers to compete. Critics say it's all about cheap labor. By Rebecca Clarren Salon Magazine May 26, 2006 | As a group, engineers and computer programmers aren't usually given to attending protest marches, which may explain why few high-tech workers have filled the streets to protest the immigration reform legislation currently being debated in Congress. But maybe they should learn to carry cardboard signs. For proposed changes to immigration law could have a severe impact on their industry. Thursday the Senate passed legislation that will increase the number of H-1B visas available for engineers and high-tech workers from 65,000 to 115,000, with an option of raising the cap an additional 20 percent every year. Proponents of the legislation -- the owners of high-tech companies such as Microsoft and Intel, or the subcontractors who supply such places with workers -- say that because of the dearth of engineering students currently in college, there is a shortage of qualified candidates. "The cap on H-1B visas has limited the high-tech industry's ability to attract and retain the best and the brightest workers," says Ginny Terzano, spokeswoman for Microsoft. "It's vital Congress take steps to reform high-skilled immigration policies as soon as possible in order to ensure that the U.S. economy remain competitive." Bringing people into this country from places like India and China is better for the local economy than shipping jobs overseas, says Carl Camden, president of Kelly Services Inc., a Fortune 500 company based in Troy, Mich. "These people are on the books, highly taxed and a great boon to the communities they work in," says Camden. "The pipeline isn't full of Americans who have I.T. degrees." Just tell that to Mitch Besser. With a master's degree in software design and development, 20 years experience, and a 4.0 GPA, Besser, 44, hasn't been able to find full-time work since 2001. "If I can't find work, something is up," says Besser, who lives in suburban Portland, Ore., and has worked for places like Intel. He adds that in the past five years, most of his colleagues in the tech industry have left town or switched jobs. "I get infuriated when I hear that they can't find people." In fact, unemployment is higher as a result of H-1B workers, according to a 2003 study for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Furthermore, between 2006 and 2011, new job creation in the computer and electronic products industry is expected to drop from 1.3 million to 1.1 million, according to economic data produced by Global Insight, a national economic forecasting system used by the government. Norm Matloff, a computer science professor at the University of California at Davis, says the real reason companies want to expand the H-1B visa program is because foreign workers are often entry-level employees who earn less money. Foreign H-1B programmers earn, on average, $13,000 less than U.S. workers, according to the Occupational Employment Statistics program of the U.S. Department of Labor. Often, because these foreign hires are recent graduates, they earn entry-level salaries, making it cheaper to hire them than someone like Besser, with 20 years experience. "This is nothing more complicated than cheap labor," says Matloff. Gary Nashif, owner of ATSI Group, a Tigard, Ore., consulting company that finds jobs for high-tech workers, acknowledges this trend. "There are subcontractors that bring people over from India and their salaries are usually lower, but their culture in India is different than ours." Generally, industry lobbyists are quick with statistics and reports, but in this case it appears they weren't needed. Neither Microsoft nor Intel would reveal how many Ph.D.s or master's students they hired last year, and how many they need for next year. When the companies and their lobbyists were asked what data and reports they showed Congress to convince them of the need for these new visas, they reported that they don't have any reports and statistics. Marcus Courtney, president of WashTech/CWA, a tech workers union, says as long as they have Bill Gates on their side, "they don't need to use anything to substantiate their arguments." "William Gates was in Washington, lobbying -- a pretty high-priced lobbyist -- to come talk about the needs of Microsoft, a marvelous company, high-tech, enormous advances for America -- he wants more people with Ph.D.s and wants a larger quota of visas for those people to come in," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the bill's author, told Salon when asked what data the industry had shown him. "We have accommodated that. And we have created more opportunities for people to come in who are students." Such ardor for Gates flows from both sides of the aisle. When asked about reports and data presented to convince Democrats on the Judiciary Committee that the U.S. didn't have the workforce it needed to fill these jobs, Tracy Schmaler, spokesperson for the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, responded: "Did you know Bill Gates has been pretty high-profile on this?" Critics of the bill, mainly academics and those who represent American tech workers, say they have no voice on this issue; that Congress has been blinded by campaign contributions of big companies. In 2004, Microsoft alone spent $9.46 million on lobbying and hired 16 different firms; it listed immigration as one of its top issues on lobbying disclosure forms, according to data from the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics. That same year, computer and Internet industries spent $70.5 million on lobbying. "There is no greater case study to understand corporate power in politics," says Courtney of the tech workers union. "I could give you 75 reports that prove that H-1B is a horribly flawed program that hurts American workers, but it doesn't matter. As long as Bill Gates says there's a shortage, and that's it, thanks for playing, game over, try again next session." About the writer Rebecca Clarren (rclarren@yahoo.com) writes from Portland, Ore.