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Microsoft Could Move Some Jobs Abroad Because of US Immigration Policies, Top Exec Says (cnbc.com)
Microsoft does not want to move jobs out of the United States but certain decisions out of Washington could potentially force its hands, the company's President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith warned. From a report: The Trump Administration's tough stance on immigration has attracted a lot of criticism from big technology firms, which rely heavily on skilled foreign workers from around the world. Smith previously spoke out against efforts to stop the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program -- an Obama-era policy that provides legal protection for young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Microsoft has advocated the protection of DACA and more broadly supported immigration as a way to make sure U.S. companies are hiring talented people. "We do worry about a couple of the very specific immigration questions that people appear to be debating in Washington," Smith told CNBC's Akiko Fujita in an interview on Wednesday.
[...] "We don't want to move jobs out of the United States and we hope that we don't see decision making in Washington that would force us to do that," he said, adding that Microsoft has been openly speaking to people in Congress, at the White House and even the Canadian government to safeguard the interest of its employees. Microsoft has a development center in Vancouver, which Smith described as a "bit of a safety valve." "We're not going to cut people loose. We're going to stand behind them," he added.
[...] "We don't want to move jobs out of the United States and we hope that we don't see decision making in Washington that would force us to do that," he said, adding that Microsoft has been openly speaking to people in Congress, at the White House and even the Canadian government to safeguard the interest of its employees. Microsoft has a development center in Vancouver, which Smith described as a "bit of a safety valve." "We're not going to cut people loose. We're going to stand behind them," he added.
You think Microsoft jobs are cheap? They are not. Highly paid. It costs more to hire a foreigner.
Fact of the matter is half of the r&d staff are foreign. Because that's where the talent is.
Have you worked or applied at Microsoft before?
...that wants to hire cheap foreign labor within the USA. They claim they can't get good US help. Well... maybe they can't. If you are about to embark on a career, and are looking at studying for 4 or more years, incurring massive debt, and then having to wait to be hired by businesses that have lowered their wage scale substantially by importing cheap foreign labor that you have to compete with, what are you going to do? Maybe take up law or medicine, if your that smart, because the software industry is now a comparatively low pay industry, and often with insane work hours to boot. These people are smart, and lots of 'em are smarter than lining themselves up to be mediocre middle-classers instead of upper middle-classers is not all that appealing.
Back before the dot-bomb of the early 2000's, actual Americans were making 6 figures, even in those more valuable year-2000 dollars, because real Americans were doing the work. Then the outsourcing and H1B Visas had their impacts, and news from the software wage front has been pretty dismal. This industry sabotaged itself with complicity by the US gov't working against it's citizens.
It is the wrong kind of immigration policies in US that allow for this "cheapest labor exploitation". Speaking as a Canadian, the work permit here, which is equivalent to H1-B in US is bound to the employer, but the permanent resident status, equivalent to green card is not. So you get here on work permit, apply for permanent resident status couple years later and your employer effectively has no leverage except a just pay and a healthy work environment. Sure it costs 2 years before you can apply, however its not like a decade or so in US at the mercy of your employer.
I agree with your statement, as far as it goes.
All businesses want cheap labour accompanied by excellent skills, be the employment in the tech industry or the service sector.
Let's step off the silicon valley trolley and enter the space of landscaping.
We want cheap labour, good work ethics, competency, and reliable attendance.
Appreciate that the labour force spends their wages on items in proximity to their living quarters.
That's housing, food, petrol, entertainment, taxes, etc.
Businesses don't give a flying rat's ass about social issues or patriotism or othe cry-baby bullshit.
The objective is to make lots of money.
If that means moving some work overseas, so be it.
I think it would be a lot better to encourage immigration. America has the room and the resources to support such a system.
But do they have the common sense God gave a piss ant to take advantage of immigration?
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
In my 20+ years of experience, natural born US Citizens are no better than foreign born developers who work in the US. And I've run into a handful of natural born US coders that were, in fact, terrible at their jobs... whereas I've seen a lot of foreign-born techies come to the US and thrive, do great work here -- and can't recall a single foreign-born coworker who was below average.
I do not have a signature
What limits production of highly skilled workers in the US is the US education system.
Public schools vary immensely in quality and funding levels. Higher education is expensive and also of variable quality. Those top schools you mention are pretty exclusive and many can only afford them with assistance.
That's one of the reasons why tech companies are trying to help schools with STEM education. They are trying to increase the supply.
But that's not what people opposing immigration of skilled workers want. If supply increases, there is downward pressure on wages. Better education, more women and minorities entering the tech jobs market, it all has the same effect as tech workers immigrating.
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Utter fucking bullshit.
^^^ This. I don't think a person fitting the economic profile I had 30 years ago could go to college. No way no how.
I made it by sheer luck, a lot of people helping me, pell grants, a scholarship and a non-trivial amount of student loans (which I'm still paying.)
Now, and due to the exorbitant cost of living, all of that is almost gone, except student loans. You either fail to graduate (because you have fucking eat sometimes) or take so much loans you end up in financial indenture for life.
This is not the same for all, though. If you live within driving distance of a 4-year university, you *still* get a chance to make it through college while poor.
But if you do not live within commuting distance from a college or university, forget about it.
I could see the changes coming when I was in college, and boy I'm glad I could graduate. No way I could do it again. And I see how much I need to save in college funds for my kids, it might be cheaper to send them to study overseas (or move my entire family).
I. AM. NOT. FUCKING. KIDDING.
The game is rigged against you unless your parents are within the 13% upper income bracket. Believe it. Believe it now more than ever.