To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter Mon Apr 8 09:38:32 PDT 2013 I've heard a number of complaints about today's New York Times editorial, at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/opinion/reforms-for-work-visas.html?ref=opinio+n&_r=0 As one of the reader comments points out, the Times editors are taking it as a given that we need more "skilled and hard-working immigrants [who] stay and contribute to this country," without investigating that there is a skills shortage in the first place. The editors cite a paper by the Migration Policy Institute, a well-known pro-immigration organization, which presents the usual misleading case on patents etc. HOWEVER: At least the Times recognizes that a key problem with the current system is that it allows the employers to "handcuff" their foreign workers, at least those being sponsored for a green card. As I've often stated, employers love having these "tied" workers, and it makes the foreign job applicant much preferable to a similar U.S. citizen or permanent resident. So, I must give credit to the NYT editorial board for recognizing this major issue. The Barrons editorial of a couple of weeks ago http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748704538604578374772860518966.html#articleTabs_article%3D1 also brought up this point, albeit only briefly. And, as noted before, the bill by Senator Moran addresses the tied-worker problem in an effective (though unfortunately limited) way. What the Times misses in terms of foreign tech worker abuse, though, is the age issue: Employers hire young foreign workers in lieu of older American workers. The Times' mobility proposal would not remedy this problem at all. In my posting last night, I discussed the age issue in terms of Facebook. One look at the faces in their slide show should make the age issue very clear. I've done this before, e.g. for Meebo (later acquired by Google) and Etsy, showing their staff pages full of 20-somethings, with a few people in their 30s. Yesterday a reader sent me this article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/04/05/bc-rbc-foreign-workers.html Normally I wouldn't highlight an article that emphasizes the Indian outsourcing companies, for the reasons I've given at http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/DiggingTheirOwnGraves.txt But I'm citing it here because it is such a good illustration of the age issue. It also features the usual facet of the local citizens training their foreign replacements, debunking the industry lobbyists' claim that the older citizens just don't have up-to-date skills. For those of you who are nontechies, this article also shows why so many American programmers focus on the Indian outsourcing firms. The mainstream firms are just as culpable, but much more subtle: Hiring foreign workers instead of Americans is less visible than outright replacing the Americans by foreigners; but it is just as harmful. At least Canadian policy requires that employers give hiring priority to Canadian citizens. There may be loopholes, but that is definitely a cut above the American H-1B policy. The Grassley/Brown bill will impose such a requirement. I repeat what I said yesterday: Why does Sheryl Sandberg want parents to push their daughters to pursue a profession with such a short career longevity? Correction: I had the incorrect URL for Beryl Benderly's recent Science Careers piece. It should be http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/20 13_04_05/caredit.a1300063 Norm Archived at http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/NYTEditorial.txt