Let’s Keep American Techs Working in America
I’m going to say this even though someone will no doubt call me a racist in the comments.
Oh, don’t think it won’t happen, because it did once already the last time the job market got tough. Here’s the thing, at times like this, when the entire world’s economy is bad, I think American companies should put American citizens, and legal residents, first, and in that order. Let’s not send jobs overseas just now. And, let’s not import any more foreign guest workers. Look, I know plenty of people who came over on H1B visas and that’s all well and good, but everyone in IT knows that this system gets abused regularly as a way to undercut the local IT people and keep them from earning a living wage. We all know that it happens and I’m sure any tech out there can site multiple sources for it. So, when I see articles about how Indian IT groups are worried about the H1B reforms currently being debated, I can’t help but wonder why they think U.S companies should put their workers’ needs above U.S. workers’ needs. Shouldn’t we take care of our own? I sure remember growing up being taught that we take care of our own neighbors before we worry about people some where far, far away. We make sure that no one we can reach is going hungry before we start looking in other cities, states and countries for people who need our help, too. Things are tough all over, but they’re tough right here. So, let’s take care of that first, then worry about our distant neighbors on the other side of the world.
Does that make sense to anyone else? Or am I wrong here? Should India and China give us work for their countries? Should we do tech support for Mumbai?
And, I’m not just saying this out of some jingoistic, hyper-conservative, knee-jerk reaction to globalism, either. I promise you. There are a lot of reasons I’m against this, not just the high level of unemployment. There are also a lot of abuses of this system. In fact, there have been so many abuses of the H1B1 system in the high-tech industry that the Federal Government is investigating and prosecuting the case. So, this whole trend of either importing foreign workers or sending work overseas just doesn’t cut it for me. First, we need to take care of our own, then reach out to the tired, hungry and poor of other countries.
So, what do you all think?
Don’t forget L-visa workers.
I don’t know to what degree I agree with you (I know several H1B and L-visa holders and would hate to see them lose their jobs or be sent overseas) but I’ll go one step further to suggest that maybe we should also look at revising limits on F, M, and J-visas for students. America isn’t educating as many scientific/engineering students as we used to, and that has got to be contributing to the problem. We invite foreign students here, with tons of incentives to stay, but expect that they’ll go home? (I find it ironic that many Americans complain about them taking their education home too!) Science and engineering (i.e. tech jobs) aren’t the only areas where Americans are the minority. A significant percentage of my fellow MBA classmates (right here at UH) were foreign students. I doubt much has changed in the past 3 years.
Perhaps if we address (what may be) the root of the problem, making American workers more valuable, we solve the long-term problem, not the immediate symptom. In short: Educate us first too.
Comment by tinyhands — 6/4/2009 @ 12:08 pm
Brother, I agree with that! It’s not a wonder that our economy is in trouble when we focus on all the wrong things. Raising the standards, both the standards that are to be met and the people to meet them, here at home should be the *first* thing we do, not the last. And, I’m not against H1B visas, or any other kind, in and of themselves, but they are supposed to be for people who do not have an analog in the U.S. workforce. The techs being brought in under the H1B system often replace viable American workers for a lower wage. That system is being used and abused by people trying to screw their fellow Americans out of a living wage. *That* is what gets under my skin.
Comment by the Network Geek — 6/4/2009 @ 12:56 pm