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Outsourced IT Workers Ask Sen Feinstein For Help, Get Form Letter in Return (computerworld.com)

Reader dcblogs writes: A University of California IT employee whose job is being outsourced to India recently wrote Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) for help. Feinstein's office sent back a letter addressing manufacturing job losses, not IT, and offered the worker no assistance. "I am being asked to do knowledge transfer to a foreigner so they can take over my job in February of 2017," the employee, wrote in part. The employee is part of a group of 50 IT workers and another 30 contractors facing layoffs after the university hired an offshore outsourcing firm. The firm, India-based HCL, won a contract to manage infrastructure services. Since the layoffs became public, the school has posted Labor Condition Applications (LCA) notices -- as required by federal law when H-1B workers are being placed. UCSF employees have seen these notices and made some available to Computerworld. They show that the jobs posted are for programmer analyst II and network administrator IV. For the existing UCSF employees, the notices were disheartening. "Many of us can easily fill the job. We are training them to replace us," said one employee who requested anonymity because he is still employed by the university.

15 of 813 comments (clear)

  1. Silly rabbit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Democrats tagline about being the party for the little guy is every bit as truthful as Republicans ideas about being the party of fiscal responsibility. They're both so full of shit that they could make billions in the fertilizer business. Lets be clear - all politicians today are there for their own personal enrichment and power. If you ain't the one who paid their bribes, you ain't getting anything back except maybe a form letter.

  2. Re:Good for India by stabiesoft · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Probably because it is a country's duty to first support its own citizens. Otherwise, what is a country?

  3. Re:Been there. Not fun. by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At this point it's better to actively sabotage the effort while you look for other employment and then quit. I've fought this battle in a different field, it didn't do anyone any favors to go along with it, including the corporate masters who thought they were saving money. The best policy is subtle sabotage: make enemies, say vague things, give wrong directions when someone talks to you without a paper trail then deny or dissemble. The government has sold you out, unions won't work here, so at this point misbehaving and taking their money for as long as it lasts is the best policy.

  4. Re:really? by pla · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Easy to say, not so easy to do when it happens to you.

    For starters, having a job makes it much, much easier to find a new one. Telling your employer to go pound sand has a way of leading to unemployment in short order.

    Second, very few Americans have any sort of massive bank of accrued leave; meaning unless they keep working, two weeks from now, they stop getting paid.

    And finally, companies often make these situations too good to turn down - Train your replacement, and we'll give you a bonus of six+ months' salary, but only if you stay until they tell you to.

    Sure, we may all feel morally indignant about these situations, but how many of us would really choose "unemployment" over a check for $80k? I'd dare say not very many.

  5. Re:You mean Trump's webmaster by meta-monkey · · Score: 5, Informative

    Trump's clarification of that question. Why you gotta lie and make it seem like he was talking about H1-Bs? This is why Trump is winning. All his opponents can do is be OUTRAGED but can't argue the issues without lying about his positions. People notice and then they hate you and support Trump. Making your own monsters, kid.

    "Megyn Kelly asked about highly-skilled immigration. The H-1B program is neither high-skilled nor immigration: these are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay. I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse and ending outrageous practices such as those that occurred at Disney in Florida when Americans were forced to train their foreign replacements. I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions."

    --
    We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  6. Re:Been there. Not fun. by Richard_at_work · · Score: 5, Informative

    You probably had grounds to force the payment of the severance anyway, in your case, as its a UK company and under British rules severance is not contingent on anything - the company makes you redundant and pays your severance, they cannot put strings on it. You would probably have had to file in a UK court, but thats not much of an issue.

    That is why you don't hear of these horror stories of "I had to train my replacement" in the UK - we simply don't have to do that.

  7. Maximum yield by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Scott Adams (who writes Dilbert) is on vacation in Switzerland, and his recent blog post had this snippet, which got me really angry:

    [...] I also asked the Swiss man what kind of problems they have in Switzerland. He laughed again. The answer is “none.” Literally.
    Good economy.
    Plenty of jobs.
    No racial strife.
    Low crime rate.
    Highest standard of living.
    No real pollution.
    No litter.
    No homeless that I could see.

    The reason it angered me is that here's a country where the government tries to give the citizens a good life. They have fixed all of the major problems and are just letting their citizens live in quiet enjoyment.

    The Swiss government is considering implementing a guaranteed minimum income.

    Over here in the US, our infrastructure is crumbling, our healthcare is at 3rd world level, jobs are scarce (and we're outsourcing more and more), and two thirds of the people are on the brink of poverty, and the government spies on and opresses everyone.

    It's as if the government sees the people as some sort of harvest-able crop whose purpose is to provide taxes, where their only efforts are towards maximum yield.

    1. Re:Maximum yield by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 5, Informative

      That's where my wife is from. They are very strict about secure borders, control of the money supply, and having the government live within its means. Unlike European countries (Switzerland is totally autonomous and not part of the union) it is not importing refugees.

    2. Re:Maximum yield by Kokuyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeeeahhh... That Swiss dude? He was lying.
      Regards from Switzerland.

  8. Re:really? by JustNiz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    >> If you are losing your job, you at leasy want to get some money to survive.

    Thats why you need to never take on debt unless absolutely necessary, then pay it off ASAP and save while you are working.
    My biggest life rule is to ensure I always have an emergency fund that is a minimum of 6 months (ideally a year) of pay (after tax/deductions), I maintain a minimal lifestyle (no "toys" or luxuries) until I have that in the bank, and I never touch it for ANY reason other than to absolute emergencies to keep myself alive/fed/housed/clothed.
    A side-effect of doing that is that you become free to live like a man, with some self-respect, not a corporate slave/sheep.

  9. Re:H-1B abuse and Trump by bgalbrecht · · Score: 5, Informative

    Trump says he's against H1B, but he brings in at least 1000 foreign workers under H2B for all his casinos, resorts and hotels. Actions speak louder than words, and in this case, it's clear that Trump is in favour of hiring cheap foreign workers instead of citizens.

  10. Re:Protectionism by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Farm jobs, 1790, 90% of the labor force. Manufacturing took all our hard-working farm jobs. <-- technological improvement
    Dock and rail worker jobs, 1920. The shipping pallet cut 4 days work down to 4 hours. <-- technological improvement
    Manufacturing jobs, 1990. Globalization took away all our jobs. <-- moving jobs
    IT jobs, 2015. H1B foreigners are taking our jobs. <-- moving jobs

    There seems to be a problem with your comparison. Frankly, I don't think moving all our manufacturing to China was a good move and the H1B program is a disaster.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  11. Re:H-1B abuse and Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He's against tax loopholes like depreciation but has exploited them mercilessly in the past as well.

    He believes that every person has the right to act in their best interest in whatever rules framework exists. If the rules are shitty, that's the problem; you can't expect people to abide by the "spirit" of the rules against their own interest.

    The real problem is that the rules are shitty, and he _says_ he intends to fix the rules.

  12. Re:Been there. Not fun. by XXongo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    .... If they illegally refuse to pay you what was agreed upon, go file a judgment against the company.

    Having had several friends go through filing lawsuits for restitution against actions that were clearly, obviously, and evidently illegal... I'd say your advice is idiotic.

    A friend of mine once explained how a lawsuit works. Your lawyer and the opposition lawyer have a stack of hundred-dollar bills in front of them, and each is given a lighter. They take turns flaring off the hundreds in front of the judge. The one whose pile runs out first looses.

    Most companies won't try to fight you in court, they'll just pay you off to get rid of you.

    Most companies will fight just on general principles, and because they figure you will fold, and in any case won't have the resources to take it all the way to trial. They have in-house lawyers who are being paid anyway.

  13. Re:Been there. Not fun. by yuriklastalov · · Score: 5, Funny

    But in my MBA courses they said workers are interchangeable cogs to be moved about as the enlightened management sees fit! Modern management theory couldn't possibly be complete bullshit, could it??