Today there are a flurry of stories in the press on American workers being outraged because corporations are firing U.S. workers and keeping their temporary foreign guest workers.
Guess what. Corporations have been replacing U.S. citizens, U.S. workers with temporary guest workers for quite some time now.
This is not the best and the brightest or worker shortage or skills we cannot find, it is outright labor arbitrage. Corporations fire U.S. workers and replace them with guest workers because it’s cheaper and also for their offshore outsourcing agendas.
The scenario goes like this. A U.S. worker who is highly skilled, exceptional job performance hits say age 35. Magically a younger worker on a guest Visa needs to be trained by that experienced worker. Then, magically that U.S. worker is fired.
Bloomberg and Reuters while acknowledging these corporations are keeping H-1B and L-1 foreign guest workers and firing Americans, go on and on about the plight of being unemployed for a H-1B Visa holder.
Wake Up Journalists!
It is not like if a H-1B goes home, magically they fall off the edge of the world. There are some very nice U.S. savings which go pretty damn far in costs of living in many of these countries. And you…
Guest workers are supposed to be temporary. To fill a temporary labor shortage when there are not enough U.S. workers. Or at least that’s the rhetoric. Of course the law is quite different.
So, one would think that first to go in layoffs would be the temporary guest workers. Not so! Microsoft is laying off 5,000 workers and additionally none in India. Of course Microsoft lobbies for more cheap labor which displaces U.S. workers so these massive layoffs are the height of hypocrisy.
Mr. Steve Ballmer Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond , WA 98052-6399
Dear Mr. Ballmer: I am writing to inquire about press reports that Microsoft will be cutting approximately 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months. I understand that the layoffs will affect workers in research and development, marketing, sales, finance, legal and corporate affairs, human resources, and information technology. I am concerned that Microsoft will be retaining foreign guest workers rather than similarly qualified American employees when it implements its layoff plan. As you know, I want to make sure employers recruit qualified American workers first before hiring foreign guest workers. For example, I…
Considering how badly corporate lobbyists have sew up the Democratic party when it comes to global labor arbitrage against working professionals, well pardon me for my skepticism. Still during the confirmation hearing of Labor Secretary Solis, this question was asked:
In terms of H-1B Visas, what is your position on that?
The below video clip in her answer.
Folks, keep writing, speaking out and demanding your legislators pass S.1035intact.
