Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2012 22:22:00 -0700 From: Norm Matloff To: Norm Matloff Subject: Wedel still unemployed To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter Recall the case of Darin Wedel, whose spunky wife managed to not only get in a question to President Obama about the H-1B work visa program, but also managed to stand her ground when the president tried to defend the program. When I first commented on this at the time, at http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/DarinWedel.txt http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/JenniferWedelVsObama.txt http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/Wedel3.txt I speculated that Wedel would definitely get a job, as the industry lobbyists would want to shut down the bad publicity right away. But then it turned out that Wedel needs to stay in the Dallas area for family reasons, and I commented If in a presidential election debate the president is asked about the Wedel case, he may get off the hook by saying that Wedel is a tough case, as he must stay in the Dallas area, due to child custody issues. Too bad, the president might say, because Intel in New York wanted to hire Wedel. (See http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/TINotAnIndianFirm.txt) It is now looking like that later speculation of mine might turn out correct, sad to say. If the question does arise during a debate, Obama will have a ready answer as above. The industry lobbyists are undoubtedly giving the same answer to anyone in Congress who questions the industry's demands that Congress expand the H-1B program: "Lots of employers contacted Wedel, showing that there IS a shortage of electrical engineers, as we've been saying. Too bad he can't leave Dallas, but there ARE jobs for him." In other words, Obama and the industry lobbyists have their out, right? Well, not so fast. The firm that laid Wedel off in the first place, Texas Instruments, IS in Dallas. It's one of the largest employers of electrical engineers in the world. TI also testified to Congress last year that they have a shortage of people. So, one would think that surely at least there should be something at TI for Darin Wedel. Indeed, as I said at the above URL, I just checked TI's Careers Web page, specifying the Dallas area (note this point), and found positions for IC Test Engineer, Test and Characterization Engineer, Test Engineer, Product/Test Engineer, Product Engineer and so on. Based on what I know about Wedel's background, I believe he could do many of these jobs. But I also believe it's likely some of these are being filled by H-1Bs (young ones, naturally). TI, of course, would say that Wedel is "overqualified" for those jobs (read, "too old/expensive"), while he is UNDERqualified for all the other jobs. Doesn't leave much, does it? So, if the President does indeed answer a debate question about Wedel by saying, "It turned out that there were plenty of employers who would have hired him, but sadly, he could not leave the Dallas area," that will NOT be a valid answer. But it WILL be an answer that people will accept, all too easily, without realizing that a major employer right there in Dallas is ignoring Wedel. The old Lincoln quote, "You can't fool all of the people all of the time" may need updating in this modern era of PR uber-experts. We may have to settle for Senator Grassley's statement, all in the H-1B context (he's a critic of the program), "No one should be fooled [by the industry lobbyists concerning H-1B]." Norm http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/07/3867883/fort-worth-engineer-who-got-obamas.html Fort Worth engineer who got Obama's attention still doesn't have a job Posted Saturday, Apr. 07, 2012 Updated Sunday, Apr. 08, 2012 By Anna M. Tinsley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram atinsley@star-telegram.com FORT WORTH -- More than two months after President Barack Obama asked for Darin Wedel's résumé, the phone is quiet, e-mails are no longer flooding in and the long-sought-after job interviews -- which had begun to be scheduled -- have petered out. "Not even recruiting companies are calling anymore," said Jennifer Wedel, the Fort Worth mother of two who chatted online this year with Obama about her out-of-work husband. She says his job search has been hurt by a program to hire skilled foreign workers. It's been more than three years since Darin Wedel lost his job as a semiconductor engineer at Texas Instruments. But the family had newfound hope after Jennifer Wedel participated in a Jan. 30 video chat with the president using the "hangout" feature on Google Plus. She asked the president why the government issues and extends H-1B visas to foreign workers when highly skilled Americans like her husband can't find full-time work. Obama, who said industry leaders have told him that the U.S. doesn't have enough high-tech engineers to meet its needs, ended up asking for Darin Wedel's résumé. For weeks after that, the family's telephone rang constantly with calls from recruiters, headhunters, the news media, the Texas Workforce Commission, the White House, and out-of-town and out-of-state companies about possible job opportunities. "I did feel we got our hopes up a little," Jennifer Wedel said last week. "I mean, he's the POTUS. But it seems not even the leader of our country can get [Darin] a job." Shortly after Jennifer Wedel talked with the president, the family was overwhelmed with attention. Many calls came from out-of-state companies, as well as companies throughout Texas. But Darin's work choices are limited to North Texas because of a custody agreement for one of his two daughters that prevents him from moving away. Even so, the family thought a new job was right around the corner, possibly weeks away. But the phone calls lessened, and now they have stopped. H-1B visas Jennifer Wedel said the whole reason she participated in the chat was to draw attention to her concern about H-1B visas, which she believes are preventing workers like her husband from getting hired. Supporters say this type of visa is needed to fill jobs that otherwise might be left vacant. Critics say that there's no worker shortage, that countless highly skilled U.S. workers are unemployed and that companies are choosing to hire foreign workers at lower salaries through the program. Jennifer Wedel's conversation with the president prompted Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to send Obama a letter asking him to support a bill geared to reform the visa program. "Your response to Ms. Wedel leads me to believe that you don't understand the plight of many unemployed high-skilled Americans," the letter said. "Mr. Wedel's situation is all too common. Thousands of qualified Americans remain out of work while companies are incentivized to import foreign workers. I'm concerned that you're hearing only one side of the story -- from businesses who claim that there are better and brighter people abroad." Changing roles After Darin Wedel was laid off, Jennifer Wedel went to work at an insurance agency, hoping to help support the family while her husband looked for a job. Now, more than two months after her chat with the president, she has changed her approach. She is turning to social media to try to find a higher-paying job for herself to better support her family. "We are doing fine," she said. "Unless reform comes to the H-1B program, I'm afraid we are in a place where 'our' family roles are changed. "This is our permanent job [situation] now. It's unfortunate, but we will overcome," she said. "We didn't do the interview with the president to get a job. We did it to get a voice for so many Americans who, like my husband, are in the very same situation." Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610