Slashdot Mirror
Gates Calls for Increase in Tech Labor Supply
Randeep Igochyorjob writes "Reuters is reporting that
Bill Gates is asking for the removal of quotas for guest workers by removing the caps on non-immigrant alien workers. In a mild attempt at balance, buried near the end of the story, the article also says "Undersecretary of Commerce Phil Bond, a top Bush administration technology official, pointed out that the unemployment rate for engineers is above the national average." I'm wondering if raising wages might attract the "needed" workers from domestic sources or is Gate's request "necessary to remain competitive and innovative"."
We need to send all these H1B people packing as it stands today! You know why not offer the TALIBAN or OSAMA positions on WALL STREET networks!???!?! Christ, we have all but turned over our infrastructure to INDIA - the people we can LEAST trust to do the work. I mean really - did we learn NOTHING from 9/11 ??!?!?!?! I fear for this country, and I for one will be dancing in the street singing shouting and LAUGHING MY ASS OFF the day the next 9-11 type strike happens.... I just hope next time it takes out ALL of WASHINGTON DC!!! An we would have done it ALL *TO* ourselves BY OURSELVES!
It wouldnt be so bad if H1 replacements were actually good.
As far as Indians are concerned, I assure they are not. I'm an Indian F1 student and so are most of my friends. All my friends who have got a job, have got it through some Indian recruiter.
These recruiters basically create a fake resume for the student(or anyone) who wants to get a H1. They show 5+ yrs exp and whatever skills that are needed for the job. And finally the H1 guy gets paid a lot less.
Best part about this scam is, even if you are from another stream(say Chemical Eng, Mechanical Eng), the recruiters will 'train' you and get you a job.
Then you might ask how can such a person survive in the job. Well I've seen MANY people, including some from Mech eng get a job for a position that wants 6 yrs exp, and no one has got fired. That means the management and most of the collegues are equally qualified.(ie not at all). And lets face it, to 'blow enough smoke' as you put it is not rocket science. (I liked that expression and that why I replied)
I dont know about any numbers, but since an overwhelming majority of Indians that I know from several Univs have gotten jobs like this, I'd say atleast 1/4 of H1's are such 'qualified' individuals. Add to that I've met some H1's directly from India, and they didnt exactly impress me.
And guess what, to survive in the US, I've started approaching some recruiters... I'll be H1 before this year end.... thats the only way to pay my debts off.
I dont mean to say Indians are horrible programmers or anything like that. There are lots of good Indian programmers that US companies could use, but the people who are getting hired are certainly under qualified.
Just look at the CS programs at the top engineering universities - they are filled with immigrants. Although, most probably have green cards or what not, the majority are 1st or 2nd generation immigrants. These are the type of people that many of the software shops like Microsoft complain about the lack of (Google complained about the lack of talent too, when commenting on their inability to double their staff).
By opening non-immigrant labor pools, it increases the amount of labor at this caliber available to U.S. companies. Face it folks, American secondary education just doesn't emphasize math and science enough to produce enough engineers for the demand. No, i'm not talking about IT people with some ABC certificate or can program in X language, but engineers that have been trained to solve problems formally. People who have solid quantitative skills. These are the type of people (from my experience) that many of the software companies are looking for. This is evident through the type of questions companies like Google and Microsoft are asking at interviews.
Companies don't want to hire people who write things like "People higher H1B's because there cheeper". They want qualified employees. If that means that the unqualified people remain unemployed, so be it. Companies shouldn't be forced to hire incompetent people.