Former employees speak out about Disney's outsourcing of high-tech jobs (H-1B Visas)

[OhioChick]

[valerief]

1. So many of us from IT have witnessed, if not experienced, this. nt

[mike dub]

2. Thanks for posting this, OhioChick

bookmarking to watch this later

[HassleCat]

3. Corporate welfare at its best

The H1-B visa program is a scam. It's only purpose is to find cheaper employees. Does anyone really believe there is dire "shortage" of qualified people to write programs? Now? After years of downsizing, outsourcing, offshoring and experienced IT people flipping burgers? Bringing in foreign IT workers is done for exactly the same reason the construction company uses undocumented workers to build apartments. They work for less money, don't demand as many benefits, will not be around long enough to get significant salary increases, and can be replaced in a heartbeat if they make trouble. Oh, almost forgot. They're not unionized, and never will be.

[erronis]

4. Good synopsis. Too bad we can't outsource the bankers and lawyers who are screwing us.

OK - I guess we are. It's called multi-nationals and they can set up shop in whatever jurisdiction gives them the most banks for the bucks.

[JDPriestly]

5. K&R. We need to ask Hillary about this.

It is my understanding that she has pushed for H1-B visas in the past and promised this program to other countries.

I'd like more facts on Hillary's stance and history on H1-B visas.

Her stance has been ambiguous to say the least and maybe very pro-H1-B visas (another issue on which I do not trust her at all):

. . . .

During her first campaign, Clinton threw her support behind proposals to lift the annual cap on H1-B visas. The visas are generally awarded to highly skilled workers in technology fields such as computer science and engineering, where some economists believe – and many tech leaders and start-up founders say – there are not enough qualified U.S. job candidates to meet demand.

Currently, the number of H1-B visas is limited to 65,000 per year. In recent years, applications have blown past the limit in matter of weeks, prompting members of Congress from both parties to call for an expansion. Labor groups have pushed back, warning that lifting the cap will result in a flood of cheap foreign labor that will take even more jobs away from American workers.

“Let’s face the fact that foreign skilled workers contribute greatly to what we have to do to be innovators,” Clinton said at the event.

It’s worth noting that the limit was temporarily raised twice by Congress in the late 1990’s, first to 115,000 per year and then as high as 195,000. Both times, the increase was the result of legislation signed by then-President Bill Clinton.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2015/04/13/what-a-hillary-clinton-white-house-could-mean-for-businesses/

Clinton, too, supports an increase in the cap. In a 2007 talk, she made her position clear, saying: "I also want to reaffirm my commitment to the H-1B visa program and to increase the current cap. Foreign skilled workers contribute greatly to our U.S. technological development."

But Clinton has a lot of history. As secretary of state in Obama's first term, she took a more nuanced stance.

The Indian government sees easy access to H-1B visas as essential to its IT services industry. But in 2009, in the midst of a recession, the Obama administration was cautious about anything suggesting support for offshore outsourcing.

"In a global recession, every country is going to want to make sure that we have enough jobs for our people," said Clinton at a news conference six years ago in India. "So, we have to figure out how we're going to work together. Outsourcing is a concern for many communities and businesses in my country. So how we handle that is something that, you know, we are very focused on doing in a way that doesn't disrupt the great flow of trade and services that go between our countries."

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2909983/it-outsourcing/heres-where-clinton-and-rubio-stand-on-the-h-1b-visa-issue.html

Interesting to see what version of Hillary we will get this time around when it comes to H1-B visas.

[OhioChick]

6. From 2014:

"Clinton also backed increasing the number of H-1B visas issued by the United States."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/04/08/hillary-clinton-on-2016-im-thinking-about-it/

[JDPriestly]

7. Thanks.

[antigop]

9. April, 2014...Hillary pushes for an increase in the H-1b visa limit

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=91598

[Dustlawyer]

8. That's life under corporate rule!

H-1B Visas came about how?

[antigop]

11. Look here...

https://normsaysno.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/tpp-and-h-1b/

So, how does all this affect the H-1B work visa? Your response may be “But that is not trade!”, but actually it is — officially, trade consists of both goods and services. Moreover, previous trade agreements have had major impacts on H-1B. The 1994 GATS trade treaty explicitly included H-1B, and most significantly, in essence locked us in to a yearly H-1B cap of at least 65,000 visas. In other words, even if somehow Congress wanted to do the right thing about H-1B, it would not have the power to set a cap below 65K.

Norman Matloff has written extensively about the H-1B issue.

Note the year: 1994

[antigop]

10. Meet Bernie Sanders, H-1B skeptic

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2916827/it-outsourcing/bernie-sanders-h-1b-skeptic.html

The H-1B visa issue rarely surfaces during presidential races, and that's one thing that makes the entrance of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) into the 2016 presidential race interesting.

As a senator, Sanders does not have a lot of political clout. He's an independent socialist whose major campaign contributors are unions. But Sanders this week announced he's running for the Democratic nomination for president, a move that could raise the visibility of the H-1B visa program as a national issue.

Sanders is skeptical of the H-1B program, and has lambasted tech companies for hiring visa holders at the same time they're cutting other staffers. He's especially critical of the visa's use by providers of IT services that are headquartered overseas.