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H-1B and L-1 visas are American worker replacement programs
Endangered species: US programmers
Thu Oct 14, 7:32 AM ET
By David R. Francis, The Christian Science Monitor
Say goodbye to the American software programmer. Once the symbols of hope as the nation shifted from manufacturing to service jobs, programmers today
are an endangered species. They face a challenge similar to that which shrank the ranks of steelworkers and autoworkers a quarter century ago:
competition from foreigners.
Some experts think they'll become extinct within the next few years, forced into unemployment or new careers by a combination of offshoring of their
work to India and other low-wage countries and the arrival of skilled immigrants taking their jobs.
Not everybody agrees programmers will disappear completely. But even the optimists believe that many basic programming jobs will go to foreign
nations, leaving behind jobs for Americans to lead and manage software projects. The evidence is already mounting that many computer jobs are
endangered, prompting concern about the future of the nation's high-tech industries.
Since the dotcom bust in 2000-2001, nearly a quarter of California technology workers have taken nontech jobs, according to a study of 1 million
workers released last week by Sphere Institute, a San Francisco Bay Area public policy group. The jobs they took often paid less. Software workers
were hit especially hard. Another 28% have dropped off California's job rolls altogether. They fled the state, became unemployed, or decided on
self-employment.
The problem is not limited to California.
Although computer-related jobs in the United States increased by 27,000 between 2001 and 2003, about 180,000 new foreign H-1B workers in the computer
area entered the nation, calculates John Miano, an expert with the Programmers Guild, a professional society. "This suggests any gain of jobs have
been taken by H-1B workers," he says.
H-1B visas allow skilled foreigners to live and work in the US for up to six years. Many are able to get green cards in a first step to citizenship.
Another visa, L-1, allows multinational companies to transfer workers from foreign operations into the US.
The H-1B visa has been highly controversial for years. This fiscal year, Congress set a quota of 65,000 visas, which was snapped up immediately after
they became available Oct.1. Now, US business is pleading for Congress to let in more such workers.
The US Chamber of Commerce (news - web sites), for instance, wants Congress to revisit the cap "to ensure American business has access to the talent
it needs to help keep our economy strong."
That rationale makes no sense to the Programmers Guild and other groups that have sprung up to resist the tech visas. Since more than 100,000 American
programmers are unemployed - and many more are underemployed - the existing 65,000 quota is inexcusably high, they argue. H-1B and L-1 visas are
"American worker replacement programs," says the National Hire American Citizens Society.
Further, the H-1B program, set up in 1990, is flawed, critics charge. For example, employers are not required to recruit Americans before resorting to
hiring H-1Bs, says Norman Matloff, a computer science professor at the University of California, Davis.
And the requirement that employers pay H-1Bs a "prevailing wage" is useless, he adds, because the law is riddled with loopholes. Nor are even any
remaining regulations enforced.
The average wage for an American programmer runs about $60,000, says John Bauman, who set up the Organization for the Rights of American Workers.
Employers pay H-1Bs an average $53,000.
A programmer, Mr. Bauman was out of work for 20 months before finally taking a job with a 40% pay cut. His experience is common enough that
programmers are organizing to fight in Congress against H-1B and L-1 visas.
But they face an uphill battle, says Mr. Miano, as business groups are far better organized and funded than the smattering of programmer groups. "They
have the best legislation money can buy," he says.
Miano sees such a dim future for programmers that he decided to enter law school. "I saw the handwriting on the wall," he says.
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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RomanticViolence
* Jennytailya *
Posts: 1547
Registered: 3-26-2004
Location: Baltimore MD
Member Is Offline
Mood: Fuck U All
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That shit is fucking crazy! A few of my co-workers including myself lost our jobs with a goverment accounting firm back in june due to "budget cuts".
The Goverment spends a shit load of money on people who dont want to work .. and fucks over the rest of us.
Have you ever noticed how crayons are a lot like M&M's? All the colors tend to taste the same.
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Big Ugly
Member
Posts: 416
Registered: 1-16-2006
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Are you really suprised?
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Jeff trhe Greek
Member
Posts: 116
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Halifax N.S.
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Mood: The Tossers
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A lot of Canadians go south for work, for the money. I personally wouldn't, I'd rather stay here and try to improve the situation. We call it the
'brain drain'. We lose a lot of skilled workers to the states. Nurses especially, and its really fuckin' our health care situation. Don't you guys
have any nurses? What's the deal, there seems to be a shortage of skilled labour in the states, is this a result of the steady decline of your
education system? Or is this a case of paying lower wages to foreigners? I know my sister-in-law makes makes shitloads mor in the states than she
would up here.
I'm not slaggin' the American worker, I'm just saying this sounds like a case of Americans fucking Americans, or am I way off base?
Don\'t blame me, I voted for Kodos.
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GabeTexasGAMC
* GROWN *
Posts: 1828
Registered: 2-22-2004
Location: Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Teenage Fanclub
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Jeff trhe Greek
A lot of Canadians go south for work, for the money. I personally wouldn't, I'd rather stay here and try to improve the situation. We call it the
'brain drain'. We lose a lot of skilled workers to the states. Nurses especially, and its really fuckin' our health care situation. Don't you guys
have any nurses? What's the deal, there seems to be a shortage of skilled labour in the states, is this a result of the steady decline of your
education system? Or is this a case of paying lower wages to foreigners? I know my sister-in-law makes makes shitloads mor in the states than she
would up here.
I'm not slaggin' the American worker, I'm just saying this sounds like a case of Americans fucking Americans, or am I way off base?
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americans fuck americans all teh time. thats how I was born.
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