Editor's Note: James P. Dougherty is an Adjunct Senior Fellow for Business and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. His essay comes from CFR.org's Expert Roundup on innovation. For more on innovation, visit our Global Innovation Showcase produced with the New America Foundation.
By James P. Dougherty
In a rapidly changing world, wrought by incessant technological advances and global dissemination of technology, America must respond to keep its seat at the head of the economic and innovation table. There are three straightforward actions that can be taken that would have large and immediate benefits.
1. Aggressively improve the H1B visa process
First, strategically simplify and speed up visas for the best and brightest from around the world. The United States may have already hit a negative tipping point, which we hope can be reversed, but we must move quickly. In 2008, all 65,000 H1B visas were gobbled up the first day of availability. In 2011, only 16,500 visas were applied for on the first day! This is a stunning turn of events that is harmful to U.S. interests.
The economic downturn and better options in home countries definitely have an impact. But the fact is that many very talented people with choices don't want to go through the hassle of the U.S. visa system. It is viewed as unfriendly, long, and unpredictable. Whether that impression is right or wrong, that's how it is often perceived. The Congress and the State Department should make it an urgent priority that these highly qualified individuals are always welcome in the United States, as they have been for most of our history.
The Small Business Administration should select a meaningful number of cities and set out to bring together local universities, existing businesses, and entrepreneurs to jumpstart local innovation organizations.
2. Enable and encourage entrepreneurship
Second, the Small Business Administration (SBA) should catalyze innovation organizations across the country. Such organizations as Y Combinator and TechStars are great examples that grew organically in places where concentrations of innovation already existed and are doing great work fostering entrepreneurship. What needs to happen is to spread this type of organization to smaller cities throughout the country.
Read: Fareed Zakaria's TIME article, The Future of Innovation: Can America Keep Pace?
SBA should select a meaningful number of cities and set out to bring together local universities, existing businesses, and entrepreneurs to jumpstart local innovation organizations. SBA could, in addition to providing seed money, offer access to facilities, best practices, and connections to other centers. But it must be done strategically and with the specific mission to replicate innovation organizations across America to empower entrepreneurs, the bedrock of our national economy.
3. Encourage risk capital
With technology advances allowing for lower costs and faster times to launch new companies, early-stage risk "angel" capital increases in strategic importance. To encourage risk capital, the government should allow some portion of early-stage investments to be written off against current income.
Maintaining a low capital gains tax rate is crucial as well. The SBA could also augment the innovation centers just mentioned with organized angel investor activities. Growing the size of risk capital and the number of angel investors is more important than ever.
Read: More from CFR.org on the American economy and innovation.
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" In 2011, only 16,500 visas were applied for on the first day! This is a stunning turn of events that is harmful to U.S. interests."
How quickly a visa is used is an incredibly dumb way to measure the success of it. Th H-1b is the favored visa of companies from India engaged in the outsourcing of American jobs. How does facilitating the outsourcing of American jobs in any way help the American economy?
The vast majority of H-1b visa holders are categorized as "entry level" and as such are not the best and brightest. The visa doesn't favor skill, and is simply first come first serve. That is why we have a rush each spring: the body shops (outsourcing firms) want to be first in line so they can marshall jobs offshore.
There are some talented H-1b workers, but it makes no sense to require these people to be sponsored by corporations; corporate sponsorship amounts to indentured servitude and gives companies additional leverage over wages and benefits, as well as working conditions. This reduces wages (of which almost all H-1b workers are paid below market wages when compared to their American counterparts with equivalent experience). So both American worker and immigrant is harmed.
Your very next argument after H-1b visas was entrepreneurs. H-1b visa holders must be sponsored by a company, and as such are not able to form businesses and become entrepreneurs. It doesn't support you other arguments.
The solution to the H-1b problem is to abolish this visa. It should be replaced with a visa that encourages permanent immigration, has no corporate sponsorship, and numbers based on economic circumstance. When the nation is shedding jobs it makes no sense to make the unemployed compete with fewer jobs with additional foreign workers. And it makes absolutely no sense to allow offshoring firms to abuse this visa, or even use the visa for that matter.
Just recently Infosys was accused of using the B-1 visa as a way to circumvent H-1b laws. Fraud and abuse is very common even among large corporations. At this point in time it makes no sense for anyone to argue for an increase in the H-1b visa.
When we welcomed Japanese automakers, we said "welcome to America – now assemble the cars here and hire our workers". We should be sending the same message to India. If they want to offshore jobs, any workers they hire in the United States should be American workers. Welcome to America India, now hire our workers.
Trade is suppose to be a win-win proposition where both parties see some advantage. Trade with India clearly benefits India more than the United States. Our H-1b program gives them a competitive advantage over American companies because they are able to import workers, pay them less, and better compete in our own home market. They shouldn't get an advantage because we allow them to exploit immigrant workers, but they do. This is thanks to the H-1b, L-1, and B-1 visa programs.
Thanks for your post, R. Lawson. At first I thought it would be another xenophobic "they tyook our jyobs" rant, but it actually turned out to be a well stated argument. While I will have to do more research to verify your description of the visa process so I can form my own conclusions, your argument as of now makes good sense.
Oh brother. All hail the paragon of high moral ground.
Thank you. I prefer to make an argument rooted in economics and what I perceived as fundamental fairness. As someone married to an immigrant and with step brothers and a step parent that are immigrants that I grew up with I really do value immigration and feel that many immigrants have added to our society. That said, when immigration is used as a tool of labor arbitrage like the H-1b visa does, it breeds resentment.
The goal of immigration should be rooted in building a better and stronger nation, and inviting people who first support democracy, the Constitution, and American way of life. This visa was created as a labor subsidy is primarily intended to boost corporate profits. American workers and immigrants were really an after-thought.
The H-1b is a temporary visa and quite often rips families apart. Many workers on the visa are chasing a green card, spend at times more than 8 years in the United States, and ultimately never make it. It wasn't designed to be an immigration visa, but later became a path to that. I've heard people from India call it the "green carrot"; imagine the image of a donkey where you entice him to move with a carrot held in front on a stick. No matter how fast the donkey moves he never gets any closer. Many people on this visa feel as if they are being treated the same way.
There are plenty of victims to go around. On the flip side of the coins many Americans have been forced to train their replacements on the H-1b visa and watch their jobs go offshore.
So although I don't agree with xenophobic and sometimes racist comments, and make no excuses for them, I believe the H-1b visa does breed resentment and causes more of that. We should want Americans to show brotherly love to immigrants, and encourage them to join us as American citizens. We should want full-time Americans, not the revolving door of the H-1b visa that pits foreign against native worker in economic warfare. The H-1b workers are just the pawns, and often the targets for vile speech. Though I've seen nasty comments from both sides. I've seen a sense of entitlement and some H-1b holders being incredibly insensitive towards American workers. Everyone could use a slice of humble pie.
The group that benefits the most are corporations. They are laughing all the way to the bank and it's a shame that the true villains are rarely identified and the issue becomes dumbed down into "anti" and "pro" immigration and name calling. Rarely does the press really judge this visa on the merits or spend any amount of time understanding the impact of it. What concerns me is what's next for (primarily) Mexican immigrants whenever comprehensive reforms pass. It appears likely that there will be expansion of corporate sponsored visas for farm labor. Corporate sponsorship really is like indentured servitude and will create legalized discrimination. It's not something anyone, pro-immigration or anti-immigration, should desire.
Lawson, I come out in strong favor of skilled immigration, as is technically specified by the H1B visa. However, you make a good and reasonable case for immigration reform that actually targets the issue of visa abuse through offshore companies instead of making the blanket statement that immigrants are evil and take jobs away from American workers.
While there is (I would say limited) validity to that claim, the benefits of immigration (creation of additional jobs, dispersal of expertise to Americans, increased tax revenue, etc.) are almost always overlooked. I'm glad you acknowledge the benefits and challenges of both sides, adding a much-needed middle ground to the debate.
I am an Adult Literacy Tutor. I have applied for Grants in regards to a program I have created which intends to grow the work ethic in minority and underprivileged public school's students. This innovation will change the US economy in a positive way by utilizing a so far wasted resource; minority youth. Here's a snapshot of the program:
Enlisted Worker Program USA
The EWP seeks to grow the work ethic in minority and underprivileged public school's students. The Program will use already existing student chores. These chores will become paying jobs for the EWP student. Teachers who are currently employed are all the teachers that will be needed. Teachers will sign a Cooperating Teacher agreement form and be compensated at $100.00 per week. The teacher will agree to keep an accurate record of work performed by students and commit to seeing that each student assigned to that teacher honestly earns his or her $25.00 per week. The parents of EWP students will sign a permission form agreeing to allow their child to participate. Their signature will also confirm that the parent is fully informed of what EWP is all about.
A while ago I was invited to take part in a green card lottery. I wasn't interested so I couldn't be bothered. I was surprised that one could win a green-card without much effort. If that was the case, the U.S. Immigration is not selective in letting immigrants into the country.
I do believe that many foreign students would prefer to stay after their studies, despite better job prospects at home. A higher salary at home would persuade them to go back., it's the whole ambience, the vastness of the country and the easygoingness of the people that make the U.S. an appealing place to live in.
Correction – a higher salary WOULDN'T persuade
R.Lawson – Thank you for bringing out a point that is hardly mentioned during H1B visa discussions. I have never participated in H1B visa discussions, because the tone gets nastier as time goes by. But this discussion has been ‘nice’ and informative. So I feel welcome and contributing to this discussion.
The H1B visa itself has a lot of questions surrounding it. The process of obtaining and maintaining the visa is described as straightforward, but in reality is extremely difficult to navigate. As a holder of the visa, I can speak from that perspective. I came to the US to study and when I graduated, I secured a very-well-paying job with a reputed firm. I have been with the same firm for the past 5 years and have renewed my visa once. I came to India last November for vacation and went to the US Consulate to stamp the visa. It has been 7 months since I applied and interviewed with the US Consulate and my request is still 'under review'. During the interview, I was asked to submit certain documents from my firm. Once I did that, I have not heard from the Consulate yet. They have neither granted my visa nor denied it. 7 months and waiting. I am paid almost 3 times the prevailing wage (as stipulated by the Dept of Labor) for my position. It certainly is on the higher side. I have grown steadily in the firm. So far, my firm has been very supportive of me. But after 6 months, my firm is trying to hire someone temporarily in my position and so far, they have not found a satisfactory candidate, though the compensation is definitely high. My firm was also pursuing Permanent Residency for me. We applied 5 years back and now that is in jeopardy as well, as I have to be in the US in person to initiate the next step in the process. I have time till end of June to get back to finish that step and hope to get my Green Card in another 3-5 years. If I cannot be back in the US by this month, we will have to start the process again from scratch. Add another 10 years maybe. There is nothing I could do but wait.
One of the reasons many of the H1B visa holders go for the Green Card, is to have more freedom in your professional life and be comfortable to invest in the US – stocks, buy a home, etc. Not to mention that you can avoid all the immigration hassles and have the path towards US citizenship. When one is in H1B, your visa is married to the company you work for. There is a lot of uncertainty because if you lose your job, you lose your status and have to leave the country. So you try to always be cautious. Some of my colleagues were able to move easily to other jobs and grow faster because they were citizens and did not have to worry their new employers about the visa. Even though I had successful interviews, my potential employers did not want to deal with the visa process. So I had to find an employer who was willing to hire me and deal with the visa process and I was never successful. I gave up on switching and focused to grow only within my firm. The H1B visa has made me a captive employee for my firm, and I do feel like if I had the freedom to move around, I would definitely be in a much better role and be paid better, as I would have had a different set of opportunities. I would not call this discrimination, but this can easily be avoided.
I certainly do not know which category of employee I would fall under. Am I ‘special’ or not? I do not know. But I feel that if the H1B is not company-specific, one can easily seek other opportunities and help keep the spirit of a competitive job market. I feel that the process to obtain and retain the visa can be made shorter/friendlier/transparent, though I do not know the exact reasons why it is presently as is.
After 7 months of uncertainty over my future, I am having financial difficulties in having a home, car and all my life’s earnings in the US in jeopardy. If I do not get my visa by this month, I am planning to say goodbye to my life in the US. I feel I have learned a lot in my life with 1/3 of my lifetime spent in the US. I hope the immigration processes get better in the future for others.
Kumar,
You are likely a victim of the massive fraud rate in the H-1b visa system. A few years back, GAO found more than 1-in-5 h-1b visa applications were fraudulent. There were many dangerous conditions, such cases where employers were not keeping track of they visa'd employees. And many, many other cases have come to light in the last 2-3 years.
All it takes is one self-radicalized idiot, and we are back to square one, 911 all over again.
Sorry, but you are victim of the massive fraud and abuse and violence committed by others. Heck we all are. The only way to control this is by strict oversight.
It takes money, time, and other resources to run the USCIS, right now the U.S. doesn't have any real money, any funds we have are borrowed. This is a product of the massive unemployment in the United States.
Get more americans working, and you'll see improvement. The way many visas are used is actually to assist the offshoring of U.S. jobs. You should also be against this destructive process, as it is impacting you indirectly.
I think what you can hope for is for the USCIS to be more self-funding. Visa costs should rise. Frankly if you making 6 figures (and I hope you are) paying 10k for a 3 year visa is nothing (hey seen the California registration cost of decent new vehicle). Yet this money could be used to expedite your paper work, make the whole system more efficient.
And hopefully, self funding, so that everyone can benefit, and the fact that you are here in the United States using our awesome infrastructure, you can feel proud that you are doing your fair share.
Very informative reply from Kumar. The part I would like my fellow readers to focus on is below. Read it twice and really think about how this impacts not only Kumar directly who holds an H-1b visa, but also think about the laws of economics and how this – especially when multiplied many times – impacts the American worker. Kumar is probably the "best case scenario" in terms of H-1b workers (highly qualified, not paid rock bottom wages, etc) so even the best case is seriously flawed.
Kumar: "Some of my colleagues were able to move easily to other jobs and grow faster because they were citizens and did not have to worry their new employers about the visa. Even though I had successful interviews, my potential employers did not want to deal with the visa process. So I had to find an employer who was willing to hire me and deal with the visa process and I was never successful. I gave up on switching and focused to grow only within my firm. The H1B visa has made me a captive employee for my firm, and I do feel like if I had the freedom to move around, I would definitely be in a much better role and be paid better, as I would have had a different set of opportunities. I would not call this discrimination, but this can easily be avoided."
Lawson,
I think you have one of the more informative posts on legal immigration that i have seen, Most times when ever i see an article on H1 I see some lunes yell no more amnesty, some others yell They take away our jeebs, and some say they are the best and the brightest, but the fact is as you mentioned, it is not people, it is process that needs to be changed,
Thank you.
Another indentured servant
This comment really hits the nail on the head. As a PhD on a H1B: over a four year period developed a critical process which made the company millions and was the reason the company was sold. I was constantly promised (and lied to) about them getting me a green card.
Upon sale of the company instead of getting stock options like my American colleges they badgered me in to signing a restrictive non compete (and if i didn't sign i would be fired, and would have they got me the green card i would owe them whatever costs they deemed appropriate if i left before three years was up (after i got the green card).
I am trying to get a national interest waiver (which is self sponsored) which itself can take anywhere between three months and three years (with no indication of how long it will take). In the meantime i have to work within the narrow speciality defined in my immigration petition... which means i am stuck.
H1B should be scrapped.
Mr.R.Lawson
As an American of Indian origin, who has relatives and friends who have used the H1 and B1 visas to enter the United States, I completely agree with you.
I would say you have barely skimmed the surface, there are issues of fake diplomas, individuals who cannot even find an entry level job in India due to bad grades being marketed as highly skilled professionals using these visas.
The number of ways these visa's are misused is astounding, it was not what it was in the 70"s when India's best and brightest came to do their PhD's and decided to stay.
With our current unemployment, most IT jobs that are filled by these Visa holders can be performed by Americans with 1yr of relevant training or maybe less after high school...... QA testing in IT is one of those areas.
1. Aggressively improve the H1B visa process
The last I looked, yearly numerical participation in the H-1B program was driven by employers, not by the perceptions of H-1B workers. Again, the applications are submitted by EMPLOYERS, not by the H-1B workers. Which makes your recommended Action #1 seem to be propped up by propaganda.
Do u know what % of H-1Bs are in fraud?
The best improvements for the visa system would be to
(1) eliminate visa waivers,
(2) require a proper background investigation for every visa applicant (to weed out the Faisal Shahzads),
(3) cut the numbers of visas to levels the US DoL and DHS can reasonably manage (in the case of H-1B visas, from issuing over 110K per year according to State Dept. reports, to 2K per year) and eliminate the exemptions to the limits, and
(4) require applicants to exceed some minimal standards as to intelligence (160+), academic aptitude (SAT, ACT, GRE, MCAT... top 0.25 percentile because we have far too many citizens in the top percentile in the affected fields who are unemployed or under-employed and lesser lights would not be making much of a contribution to the US economy), etc.
Ditch the dishonest "prevailing wage" requirement becaue it's rarely enforced and full of loop-holes it would be impossible to plug.
Employer/sponsors file LCAs; prospective employees file visa applications.
The fraud rate has fallen considerably from the 21% reported by GAO a couple years ago. That report woke USCIS up a little... only a little, and they've been requiring a more corroborative documentation of claims made on the applications... which has resulted in a lot of squealing from the immigration lawyers, and driven down the most blatant frauds.
The best way to get more creativity, just as the best way to get more industriousness, is to reward it. Make it easier for both lone and employee inventors or writers to secure the rights and revenues derived from their creative works.
Make it easier to transition from a hobby to a home business by removing ridiculous code restrictions, licensing and certification requirements, taxes and paper-work for family businesses (and hence penalties for failure to file such paper-work with the government). Bring back revenue averaging for stretches of 8 years to help small businesses survive recession/boom cycles.
Require applicants for "start-up" or "investment" visas to bring in $150K of their own money from abroad and $200K from foreign investors, to employ at least 2 non-related US citizens, FTE from day 1 and 10 FTE US citizens by the end of 12 months. Bar bodyshops from the program. As to the amounts, even a little burger kiosk in the cheap south costs over $110 to construct; and they're little more than a vending cart.
Space Wiz – Please Stop the Name Calling – If somebody does not agree with the H1-b program they are not xenophobic, we just know the evils of these visas which brings in cheap indentured servants. Americans have all the right to protect their livelihood. By name calling it just shows how educated you are.
I thought I made it pretty obvious that I was complimenting the poster's argument against the h1-b program. I apologize that my low education level didn't allow me to convey that for you to effectively comprehend.
O-1 visas are available for the truly gifted...
Would innovation really come from a vast pool of applicants chosen by lottery? From one of the world's poorest countries?
Why should we replace our own innovators here in the US with ones from foreign countries anyway? We don't have smart enough people here? Like people that delevoped the IT industry? The PC? The O/S? Database frameworks?
We are stifling creativity and innovation by keeping our own citizens unemployed. We do not have time to wait for companies to be built, grown and then see if they themselves will hire Americans. We need American employed again NOW. The visa experiment has been going on for 10+ years now, and it is by all accounts, an abject failure. There is more opposition to this program than ever before.
To suggest that we should be continuing the visa program is absurd.
I do not, at this moment, have the energy to elaborate on the treasonous rabbit hole, that is, the H-1b visa, the myriad other work visas, citizenship by 'lottery', offshoring, unenforced borders, nor the facilitators of this TREASON, but just wanted to mention that the work visa has been around for over 2 decades.
A suicidal selling-out of our nation, not limited to IT, and by the ENEMY WITHIN, and their minions.
Good post, you and the others, that fight for truth, justice, and the AMERICAN way.
We know the truth, we tell the truth, but the compromised traitors, are legion. Like shoveling a foul evil sludge against the tide.
"O-1 visas are available for the truly gifted..."
And yet the standards for O-1 visas are also extremely lax, with even totally unremarkable, uh to be very generous, exotic actresses, being granted them.
O visas should be for the brilliant 1 in 10M, and still limited to about 4K visas per year within that population.
H-1B visas should be for those in the top 4 per 1K, and limited to 1K or 2K visas per year, and allow presence in the USA limited to periods of up to 10 months, and renewable after that, with only incremental background investigations.
L visas should be about the same (both standards and numbers), but be given a little more room for those bringing propietary knowledge into the USA (they should NOT be usable for training, education or knowledge transfer from the USA to some other country), but limited to about 5 months.
J visas should be solely for cultural exchange, not guest-work, and usable for up to 3 months (a season).
F visas should be for those within the top 1 in 100, and limited to at most 15K visas per year.
All should require passing and paying for a proper background investigation (though that cost should be split in some fixed way between employer/sponsors and visa-holders), and incremental background investigations (and payment of fees for same) upon renewal or extension.
can you elaborate on why you think rules for O-1 visas are lax? do you know what it takes to get an O-1 visa?
for a country calling itself a nation of immigrants, considering you yourself are an immigrant dont you think the way you think is unamerican?
999 out of every 1000 H-1B holders is an ordinary worker of average intellect with a common skill set. Flooding our labor market with such people in the hopes of getting an Einstein now and then has been toxic to the American economy and has discourages American students from pursuing STEM educations. Yet this is what we've been doing for the past decade. When will we learn? There are easily over 1 million H-1B holders here now, and some estimates go as high as 3 million, counting all the overstays and extensions. Easily most of the H-1Bs that have ever been granted never went home. We need to eliminate or severely curtail this and other guestworker visa programs and send the excess workers home. Their home nations need them, and it is a form of theft for the US to rob the "best and brightest" of other lands to satisfy corporate greed for cheap, docile labor.
As a friend of a number of people who have gone through the process, I can tell you that it's not as straightforward as that. You need to prove that: a) your pay is on par with similar American workers, b) your career is a specialty one, c), your job doesn’t displace Americans, d) your education level is on par with others at your workplace, and so on. Department of Labor doesn’t just pay lip service to these ideas; extensive paperwork is required to prove each fact. However, there are abuses. But instead of focusing on the abuses and limited failures, declaring the program defunct, why not focus on making the process work better to avoid abuses?
In terms of education, that’s an outright lie. As a graduate student in chemistry, I can tell you that both college and graduate-level education affords many advantages to American students in the way of scholarships, amongst other things. Not once did I or any of my classmates feel discouraged because we faced competition for graduate school from international students; I’d like to see a study, survey, or something to back that statement up. Then again, those graduates can come back and enrich our education system. To look at the best and brightest, Nobel Laureates Roger Tsien, son of immigrants, and Ahmed Zewail, first-generation immigrant, both took advantage of an American education and have returned the favor by staffing their labs with aspiring graduate students. Their intellect is not interchangeable; without immigration, those two would have been lost to us. They’re extreme examples, but not unique in the world of academia. I also want to point out that neither is here to satisfy “corporate greed for cheap, docile labor.”
In terms of immigrants stealing jobs, Bill Gates once said that, for every foreign worker hired by Microsoft, an average of four support jobs were created. To look at the most brilliant again, PepsiCo’s CEO, Indra Nooyi (first-generation immigrant), is a good example.
Granted, these people are probably not here on H1B visas anymore, but many of them probably used it as a stepping stone to citizenship or more lasting visas. Others do want to work here for a time and then return to their home country, and others still will abuse the system and overstay their visas. Do we want to stop all immigration at the expense of those who abuse the system?
On the note of immigrants being sent home: would you really want any of the foreign talent I listed to go home? Doing so would only hurt the United States, furthering our unemployment problem and federal deficit. As for “robbing the ‘best and brightest’” most immigrants are here of their own will with other alternatives. I agree; brain drain is a problem, but one you can’t be concerned with if your primary interest is American excellence (as your statement alludes to).
Source:
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1126.pdf
Recently, the GAO did a study on the H1B visa and reports that over half of the H1B visas are given to cheap, entry level workers from third world countries, primarily India and Communist China.
Over the past decade these workers have been used to replace existing US STEM workers and take jobs that would have otherwise gone US graduates of colleges and universities. Often, an H1B visa holder will come to the US and receive training from the very person whose job that the visa holder is taking. Once trained, a group of H1B workers begin a process of dismantling the organization to be moved to India.
Since 2006, barely half, 53% of US college graduates, have been able to locate full time employment, because those jobs are either being offshored to countries like India, or are being given to cheap entry level immigrants, primarily from India.
The corporations and the politicians that carry the torch for the corporations, like Barack Obama, are trying to tell this country that there is a labor shortage, when in fact there is a jobs shortage. Then Obama attempts to import even more cheap labor from India to the benefit of his corporate sponsors at the expense of desperately unemployed US workers.
During Barack Obama's campaign, Obama denied taking any money from lobbyists, because doing so would undermine the interests of working people. Since then, Obama shattered all the records of corporate campaign contributions previously held by George W. Bush, and his campaign has set the goal of $1 billion, which will give the Obama campaign $3 for every man, woman and child in the US.
As Obama predicted, the administration of such a politician only responds to the interests of the corporations and ignores the interests of the people.
I have a concrete example of the problem with Research funding. I am a University researcher. I recently applied to National Science Foundation for funding. This process takes literally months of work. I did not get the grant, which is to be expected sometimes. I was informed that budget restrictions allowed only 2 grants were funded out of 14 applications. That's only about 10% funding rate. Months of work for a 10% chance of funding. Very discouraging.
The vast majority of that federal grant funding is not constitutional. If you can't successfully pitch your proposal to private sector investors, then it's probably not a very worthwhile project.
Research isn't guaranteed in the Constitution, but without it, America's scientific community would look more like that of a third world country.
The private sector has its place in research, but the government does too. A fundamental look at scientific research reveals two paths: applied science, and fundamental science. The former is what companies might be more interested in; full-genome sequencing, low-cost silicon-based photovoltaic cells, and so on. These forms of research promise relatively quick (~years-decades) returns on their investment.
But they can't exist without fundamental research. This is the core of science; the research that examines silicon macrostructures and DNA replication in obscure bacteria. Without it, much applied science, like one the biggest techniques in molecular biology (polymerase chain reaction) wouldn't exist. But that research doesn't answer targeted questions; its purpose is to be open-ended.
No company would fund research on some bacteria that only lives in hydrothermal vents; it's too far from market applicability. That's where the government steps in; they fund both fundamental and applied projects, because they're less concerned with long horizons and research that might lead nowhere. Their interest is the long-term foundation of a research community that can complement the private sector, providing the necessary expertise to allow innovation to occur.
Your comment that Younger's NSF fellowship wasn't research-worthy may or may not be true, but think of the bigger issue: does the fact that only 10% of applicants get fellowships mean that only 10% of applicants had worthy research projects? No; it means there was only funding for 10% of applicants. Kill public research funding and you kill innovation.
Interesting article for further reading by Nobel Laureate Zewail:
http://www.zewail.caltech.edu/Curiouser_and_curiouser.pdf
My husband and I cannot agree more with your approach to creating new jobs in the U.S. We see, though, a much more insidious problem that dwarfs even the lack of American jobs. In a nutshell, that problem is the woeful lack of leadership among our lawmakers. Across the board, these elected officials refuse to lead, refuse to challenge our intellect and creativity, refuse to rouse our positive energy. Instead they mire us in negativity and pander to public opinion formed in the court of Rush Limbaugh and in the lunacy of Sarah Palin. In years past, faced with economic hardship both political parties worked together, reminding us that we could do anything we put our minds to and do it better than any country on earth. Now politicians focus only on getting themselves elected with no thought to the greater good of America. We are hoping you might be the voice of us who are frustrated by the sorry state of Capitol Hill and that you will write more and use the GPS platform more to insist that our lawmakers inspire us to re-create the once vibrant economic and employment machine we used to be. If we don't soon move beyond pettiness, finger pointing, and low-mindedness, we will never solve our unemployment or any other serious issues facing us now and in the future.
You have got to be kidding! You 'totally' agree? You 'totally' agree with what?!
1st: You agree that more foreign-nationals in our country, will create jobs? Somehow, SUSPENDING work visa does not occur to you as an obvious and expedient solution? You BELIEVE the "Best and Brightest" BIG LIE?
2nd: Your PARTISAN rant does not 'play' anymore, we have been SOLD-OUT by BOTH PARTIES.
What exactly do you know? Do you know anything about the issue? Do you know anything about O-1 visas? Do you know what has happened to IT? Do you know what is happening in other business sectors?
The preceding is a massively abridged response. I could BURY you in fact and commonsense observation. Not that it would probably do any good...
How about to spur innovation add incentives to get the best students in the US to study and work in STEM fields?
I have a PhD in Engineering, an MS in optics, I have a patent, journal publications, work experience, awards.....and I have been unemployed for over a year.
This is a vicious cycle: Grad schools are given money to hire cheep labor in form of graduate students from India and China, then they flood the US high tech market, lower wages and drive up unemployment amongst US grads and PhDs. We get out of the market and discourage other Americans from entering this stupid field, then less Americans and more H1bs are pulled in, then more Americans become unemployed, particularly older PhDs....
To energize US scientific culture, we need to the opposite: cut off H1bs and make bright people a treasured resource (which they are) then American kids hear that a PhD in engineering pays very well and you will see more Americans will go for it. Otherwise, soon, US will have no native Engineers and scientists at the highest levels. That would be a catastrophe for the country.
Yes, too bad about the xenophobia word being bandied about. As if hatred of foreigners had anything to do with watching a corrupt practice that goes on and on with asinine arguments to support it. Abolish the H1b and L1 visas. That will help America and it will help IT graduates actually get a job when they leave school. That's the way to get STEM enrollment up.
And of course for those new to the 'debate' this bears watching – see how US firms legally avoid hiring Americans
Partial transcript of the above youtube:
" “Our goal is clearly not to find a
qualified U.S. worker . . . our objective is
to get this person a green card.”1
Mr. Lebowitz goes on to advise firms
how to avoid finding a potential American
applicant by advertising in out of the way
or irrelevant places, yet still comply with the
law.
“Clearly we are not going to find
a place where the applicants are most
numerous,” says Lebowitz, “we’re going to
find a place where—again we’re complying
with the law—[we’re] hoping and likely
not to find qualified worker applicants.”2
And if somehow a qualified American sneaks through and
applies for the deliberately misplaced and under-advertised position?
Not to worry, Mr. Lebowitz reassures his audience:
“If someone looks like they are very qualified, if necessary
schedule an interview; go through the whole process
to find a legal basis to disqualify them."
THIS is how Americans are treated in their own country, thanks to the visa programs this author thinks we should expand
I think you need to address the fact that Visa's are being heavily abused by companies whose sole purpose is to remove jobs from United States. InfoSys is a prime example. In the past InfoSys has touted in press releases, that it has around 2000 U.S. citizens on its payroll. But you can't put a value on this, and InfoSys knew it, unless you know the exact number of people InfoSys currently has in the United States, on a Visa.
It turns out, InfoSys has 12000+ people in the United States, on Visa (mostly H-1b and B-1). They had to admit this as part of recent SEC filing. Several Congressman have been as the immigration service for this same number, for years, turns out the U.S. immigration service doesn't have the resources (or the IQ) to keep track of the number of people (total) in the U.S. on a working (or professional visitor) visa, let alone individual companies.
Shocking isn't it? This is really scary, remember that the 911 terrorists were here on student visas, we need to keep track of peoples Visa status, and at the very least this first maginitude statistic should be readily available.
Well my point is that for InfoSys, 83% of their U.S. workforce is in the United States on a visa. That means the truth is, it takes 4-5 foreign workers, for every one U.S. citizen that gets hired.
This is a ridiculous an aweful situation, and it has to be stopped. We cannot allow companies to practice open discrimination against U.S. Citizens.
InfoSys is now being investigated for massive tax fraud and perjury, because they are using the B-1 visa to bypass wage requirements of other types of visas. And with the B-1, they can pay their employees sub-minimum wage, and do not have to pay federal income taxes.
Infosys is using our Visa system to fill 83+% of their U.S. based jobs. InfoSys is not even trying to hiring americans. And InfoSys is laughing in our faces over it, while they commit fraud against the U.S. tax system and discrimination against U.S. citizens. While at the same time, removing millions of jobs, because they use these visas to offshore millions of jobs, that is their primary industrial activity.
Companies whose sole purpose is to bankrupt the United States, should not be allowed to use visas to facilitate these aweful crimes.
Look also at Tata Consulting Services, their cross-border bodyshopping and off-shoring division. They told the city fathers and senator Clinton that they were setting up their "North American Headquarters" in Buffalo, that they would employ a thousand local citizens. In the end, they employed "maybe 10" according to the mayor, who was interviewed on CNN.
Then they moved their pitch to Ohio and got some $19M in "incentives" out of the hides of the tax-victims there to set up shop in the eastern suburbs of Cincinnati, with the promise that they would employ a thousand local citizens. It's been several years, now, and though they say they've hired several hundred wet-behind-the-ears new grads from "colleges in the region" they refuse to say how many are US citizens. (They also are mum on the issue of systematic age discrimination.)
But then they set up yet a third "North American Headquarters" in Southfield, outside of Detroit, promising to employ hundreds of local citizens.
And yet, the latest overall stats we have suggest that in the USA, over 90% of Tata employees are not US citizens.
Their own press releases in India, dutifully reported by their media, announced plans to hire almost exclusively citizens of India.
Of course, IBM and Accenture and Perot Systems and MSFT and ManPOWER and Wipro... are little better.
By perpetuating the BIG lie – that America lacks tlent and cannot innovate CNN, once a highly regarded member of the media, now follows in the footsteps of Nazi Germany .
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly – it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over” Joseph Goebbels
CNN is too lazy or paid off by the greedy corporations in support of H-1b to investigate the truth.
Ever wonder WHY American companies cannot find American talent – because they do not have to and – legally – thanks to convicted felon and lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Bill Gates – US companies have ZERO responsibility to hire Americans – even if a qualified American wants the job.
Kumar,
The H1-b visa is a temporary working visa and not meant for immigration. Since you took the risk and did not go the real IMMIGRANT visa route there is no guarantee that you will get a green card. If the only reason you want to migrate to America is because of the jobs, then we don't need you, go ahead and go back to India. However, if you like America because of the freedom and the values we stand for, then we welcome you.
I agree with the sentiment – I hope Kumar wants to be an American and not make a fast buck. The visa he is on is of "dual intent" – and really offers a path to immigration. That path is full of land mines, fat cat CEOs and slick talking immigration lawyers – but many do come here with a reasonable expectation of immigrating.
That said, once he is here I hope he maximizes his profits. Kumar being a captive worker is not good for you and I. The economics work to our disadvantage. If Kumar is negotiating and maximizing his earnings given his skill and whatever the market will pay we are now in a race to the top. If corporations can use their leverage against Kumar to drive his wages down, they can use that same leverage against you and I: "Why Mr. American should we pay you more, when Kumar will work for less since he is unable to change jobs – and he's not going anywhere since we are his sponsor". They won't state the proposition that directly, but that is exactly the leverage they have. They are using the situation to gain advantage with both American and foreign workers which results in stagnant wages. That pretty much defines labor arbitrage.
I've got nothing against Kumar as an individual. He is on a NON IMMIGRANT visa – that's a fact. Let's not muddy the waters with dual intent. Sure, he can apply for a Green Card. What should happen though is that the H1B/L1 program is cancelled and that he goes home. Heaven knows there are plenty of jobs in India, so many that people there are jumping ship for higher salaries.
As for the author, how is it that people with such good resumes are writing this non researched stuff? Is there any Nasscom funding here? Or money provided by corporations who want the best and brightest joke to be taken seriously?
it's about CHEAP LABOR and that's it
"He is on a NON IMMIGRANT visa – that's a fact. Let's not muddy the waters with dual intent."
Sorry, but once the visa became "dual-intent" the waters became muddy.
I don't like the H-1b and wish it were abolished. I think the doctrine of dual intent made the visa even more easy for companies to abuse. My feelings about what the H-1b should or should not be in regards to it being a "non immigrant visa" matter little. What matter is what it is.
It is now, because of the doctrine of dual intent, an IMMIGRANT visa – with many gotchas along the way of course. It is what some Indian workers have referred to as a "green-carrot" stringing many along with false hopes. Just like it is absurd that the H-1b and other temporary visas became a tool for labor arbitrage and a tool to offshore jobs, it is also absurd that we treat people with every intention of immigrating so horribly and make them go through unnecessary hurdles and paths that often lead nowhere.
If we don't intend to give 90% of the H-1b workers green-cards anyways, let's stop stringing them along with false hope.
We need immigration. We need it in sustainable numbers and we need to be smart about it, but I think we should desire immigration. The main objection to immigration is not that we dislike foreign people, but that it has become a tool to replace one group of workers with a less costly group of workers – and it works much like a turn-style churning people in and out of the system. It's about corporate interests, and nothing else.
When our primary objectives in immigration became profits, immigration lost its way. We need to go back to square one and we need our immigration goals and policies to be based in American values, not greed. When we do that we will stop disenfranchising American citizens and stop abusing foreign workers. This visa breeds resentment. Our society is made up of many cultures and the last thing we need is more resentment.
Corporations should not be involved with sponsoring immigrants. Corporations are artificial entities with one goal in mind: profit. They will use every tool available to them to corrupt the system for their financial gain.
When immigrants first started arriving in this country they weren't told to "take me to your sponsor". They arrived on their good name. And if they tarnished their name through criminal activity, they risked being sent back. Corporations (and many immigration lawyers – cough – AILA – have corrupted a very important part of our national heritage – which is immigration.
Joe B asks
"As for the author, how is it that people with such good resumes are writing this non researched stuff?"
are you kidding me? the author is from the Council on Foreign Relations
They dont 'study' globalism, they invented it!
They're the ones that hatched it and unleashed it 20 years ago
In this economy we do not NEED foreigners coming to this country to work, we need to get our highly-skilled AMERICANS back to work. The H-1B visa is commonly abused by corporations to bring in large numbers of average-skilled workers, citing the need for "innovation" when in reality it's a way to get cheaper labor without as much freedom or ambition as hiring a US worker.
This is unacceptable in the dire straits we have in our current economy. The H-1B visa needs to be suspended, not improved. We don't need more people from India or China, no matter how skilled they may be, coming to our country while we have soaring unemployment rates among high-tech professionals.
I should also add that this is NOT about race, it's about the fact the visa is often abused to lay off American workers in favor of (usually) cheaper workers on the visa. Every few weeks there is a piece like this lauding the H-1B visa program and totally ignoring the fact that it's mainly used to replace "expensive" Americans with "cheap" labor.
Again, it's not about race, and it's not a matter of "Dey tuk our jerbs", it's the fact that our own corporations are selling out America so its executives can line their pockets, all the while claiming that they "need" the innovation that only a visa holder from another country can provide, instead of looking at the masses of unemployed that are our own citizens.
Mr. Dougherty, I have a very simple litmus test for you to judge whether or not the H1-B is being used to ship in cheap labor, especially in terms of software developers...Visit the development floor of just about any major firm in the Wall Street area.
Seriously. You will encounter crowded cubicles filled with non-English speaking, exhausted Indians, most of whom are not even putting error trapping in their code.
You will encounter Indians calling their counterparts in India who actually are pretty good at what they're doing in hopes of actually coming anywhere near the deadlines set in their schedules.
I do not blame the Indians; it is the silver spoon brats on the board who are responsible for the legislation that allows this herding of human cattle.
One of the reasons I recommend freeware is because it is developed by professionals with real skills whose resumes are routinely tossed in the trash; oh yeah, most freeware is much better than what is available for purchase.
You see, professionals set high standards for themselves.
I maintain that if the real geniuses of the world were brought to America, we wouldn't have issues creating a 4G Smartphone with a 12 hour battery whose circuitry wouldn't be in constant danger of burning out after a few simple hours of normal use.
We Must Abolish al H-1B/L1/J1 and anyone Visas which are being used to REPLACE Very Highly Skilled Americans with cheap cheap all crocked SCABS from India.
The H1b visa has almost completely destroyed the computer science major in the United States.
It is now almost impossible to find a job or switch jobs due to the influx of mostly male Indian H1-b's in this country.
And it is a subsidy to corporations and their powerful elite executives who are currently loving this situation.
It is treacherous for politicians to support this visa in the face of the massive unemployment that has befallen our country.
Democrats and Republicans have sold us out equally.
BEARS REPEATING as 100% TRUE
The H1b visa has almost completely destroyed the computer science major in the United States.
It is now almost impossible to find a job or switch jobs due to the influx of mostly male Indian H1-b's in this country.
An ongoing federal probe into H-1B visa fraud leads to many arrests and the indictment of IT services firm Vision Systems Group The controversy over the H-1B visa program for cheap labor workers is heating up once again. Federal agents detained many Indians in six states as part of a wide investigation into suspected visa fraud, those arrested are accused of fraudulently representing themselves or other workers in immigration documents. Besides the arrests, Vision Systems Group, an IT services firm based in South Plainfield, N.J., with a branch office in Coon Rapids, Iowa, was indicted on 10 federal counts, including conspiracy and mail fraud charges. The firm allegedly used fraudulent documents to bring H-1B visa workers into the U.S. The government is seeking the forfeiture of $7.4 million from Vision Systems that was gained through the alleged offenses. Five other technology companies, including Worldwide Software Services and Sana Systems in Clinton, Iowa, remain under investigation for document fraud, prosecutors said.
"We are only at the tip of iceberg as to where this investigation leads.
Instead of paying finance majors, lawyers, and MBA's the top bucks, how about we pay scientists, engineers, and programmers what they're worth.
That's the way to spur real innovation.
A race to the bottom (and that's what the H1b visa is) is no way of creating real innovation in a nation.
It is an EXTREMELY short-sighted policy that is being advocated by executive types in order to cut costs.
The H1b visa in no way spurs innovation.
Tron legacy baby...
Whoooohooooo
The so-called "Global Innovations Showcase' propaganda report has no basis in fact... What credible study of American children's accomplishments would focus on the visa status of their parents? In addition this study neglects to mention that the winning children are American citizens the
This CNN journalist is clearly biased and his employer is guilty of laissez faire repeat the press release and never bother looking into the facts journalism. I expected more from CNN.
CNN – is this lack of due diligence, ethics, or by are you buying into the BIG lie – and poor journalism like this perpetuates Hilter's propaganda strategy – repeat the same outrageous over and over, they eventually become the truth.
http://nyconvergence.com/2011/06/technodyne-major-contractor-on-citytime-abruptly-shuts-down.html
No one is bothered about the close to one billion dollar fraud in New York's citytime project. The subcontractors who received $400 million from the project have fled to their native India......New york is proposing to cut 61,000 teachers and several firehouses and mainstream media does not want to talk about how many teachers and fire services the city could have funded if not for this fraud.Instead, on today's American morning on CNN they are talking about weinergate
We Killin It – Barton Block
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@ http://www.facebook.com/bartonblock
The question is, given the cost of the million+ H1Bs in America today (which cost is the million unemployed or underemployed or underpaid US IT people ) why don't we just STOP RENEWING OR ISSUING ALL H1B VISAS?
Answer, the corrupt Pols who need Silicon Valley Corps and other companies to fund their reelection campaigns.
If your pol does NOT support abolition, do NOT vote for him or her.
Thats good zack. Real good.
Good goings friend.
.
We like the light....that darkness though...it needs some checking friend.
No fear, no reflection.
Mirroring protocols in your head. They manifest in a light.
For a light you are a flame. And from hence, you are of fame.
Those portals must be working double time at area 51.
Hurry hurry, super scurry.
Dust to dust. For there shall be light.
Fear is the way the darkness enslaves you. That's the way they control you.
Love makes you resonate with the likes of me. I suggest you shed fear, realizing there is never death, and re appropriate love. Fear due to death was an illusion created by "Satan" (interdimensional entity otherwise known as "enki") to enslave you.
In reality, you have the power of god. He just hid this from you very cleverly...if you ever read the bible CAREFULLY, you would have noticed.
Satan actually means "slanderer" and "deceiver"
Darkness is necessary for the evolution of the thought form. But Satan has used it instead to stifle your growth.
I know it may sound "crazy" to you now. But that's because of the careful set of associations yiuvhave bee programmed to accept throughout your life. In reality, so that it makes more "sense" to you, "Satan" is an interdimensional being and thought form who sought to take all creation for himself. He therefore...programmed you...with the real language of the mind, semantics, you to imprison yourself, and then allowed you to forget the natural language and accept language as language. Hence separating logic from intuition, and allowing YOU to banish yourself from Eden. Here is a summary of his philosophy:
Think of Satan as a trickster and master scam artist, that somehow made you forget you were god, the prime creator, just fragments that have been separated to add to a multitude of experience for yourself in the higher dimensions, and enslaved all of you.....for his own enjoyment,,,
With lust, power, and greed. You chase after a mirror psychologically because of fear. It does not lead to happiness though so you constantly chase the illusion. So he enslaves you.
It is not evil because he is simply embedding you with "sin" and hence by universal law, can take advantage of your imperfection, to constantly extract suffering by your collective mind enforcing separation...
Look, in all honesty humans, it's too complicated for you right now to understand. You have been very well deceived...and it will take a long time to unlearn what you have unlearned. In reality, you are an energetic thought form that can change reality at will....you have just been lead like a zombie into a house of mirrors. And now you can't get out. We are here tochelp you out.
Btw. This is real semantic language. Read the first post below about akura.scroll down until he starts getting scientific om you...then watch this video...slowly...you will understand....you are in a house of mirrors...wake up.
H
Scroll down and read the post:
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1466382/pg1
Read where he talks about energy ok. Sorry for the spelling. Interdimensionals are not perfect (poltergeist if you will) and I am using a channel right now.
Btw, get the rid of the television. It limits your natural psychic abilities. We eagerly seek to meet you. It is part of the divine plan.
Personally, I am very happy to share with you the love thought form. I do not understand life as well as I should.
Much love.
Think about it logically....you think a race thousands of years ahead would actually travel and communicate across the universe at light speed? It would be so impractical as to render it impossible. We use resonance...quantum entanglement on the macro scale to "jump"
And so can you. You've just been sleeping. Once you awaken, you'll get it automatically. The technology will come easily.
Also gives yiu a hint in existence...if we wanted to tske over a planet for "resources" we wouldvhave done it long ego. Eventually all societies, due to robotics or awakening or whatever, satisfy all manual labour and technology, such as nano tech, satisfies the energy need.
The other step is transcendent thought forms. Psychic evolution, intellectual evolution (technologically, you call this "the singularity" but in reality this can happen "naturally") and spiritual evolution.
I have studies you for some time. And to you, "spiritual" may mean something "hippies" do...but that's wrong....so wrong....
In fact, great intelligence also comes from the spirit.....you can be a genius with spirit..you can use telepathy, move objects...a lot of stuff you have been purposefully hidden from.
Remmember, you are in prime creators mind.YOU are in control.
It will take some time to waken your psychic potential, which is vast I must say, but once you do, the satanic entity that has ruled earth realm for so long, enki, will leave.
It may sound very mortal komabt ish...too "extreme" and fantastic...but that's because you are looking at it wrong...
Think of yourself as imprisoned in the "matrix" and you are accepting the "programming" by choice...and all the narratives throughout your life have trained you to think of happiness as a big house, hot women, and control over others....
But that is just a program. Make no doubt of it. Satan, in your current dormant state, is very intelligent (it is relative), through the "sin" of separation, that you are you and I am me, he has imprisoned you into this reality and watches in delight....
It will be hard to see beyond the porgramming,...very hard...but the whole universe is a living creature...and it desires that yiu awaken,,,Satan knows this and he is complying. You have nothing to fear.
Saran realizes that he has gone mad (he currently is in the equivalent state of a mental institution hearing classical music) and that his creation has become his insanity. He thinks he is cute and funny in his ways, and in his deception, he he has deceived himself, and locked himself into the abyss for good.
In a way...you are the creation of Satan...by your choosing...but have the power of prime creator...what you call "God"
So, the insanity of your world...is really a reflection of satans mind. We are truly sorry.
Think of us as the Protoss.
Wink
@That5thdimensionalcubeinyourhead: Get lost. Why are you posting this spam and nonsense that is completely unrelated to the story?
The San Jose Mercury News notes that the fastest growing group of illegal immigrants comes not from a Spanish-speaking country but rather from India.
Over 70 Million, YES Over 70 Million INDIANS are in the US ILLEGALLY.
So have you seen what has happened to NY, NJ, CT and CA just to name a few states which have been Invaded by Indians and Millions of British Parasites (BP). Are you not sick of all the very CRUDE British Parasites all over American TV? I know we sure are.
KKK
Discrimination Is Occurring On A Massive Scale Against Qualified US Citizens.
The Middle Class Has Been Destroyed.
Families Have Been Torn Apart.
The EEOC, the OFCCP, the DOJ-OSC Have Done Next To Nothing To Protect US Citizens Whose National Origin Is USA.
Immigration Law Firms Are Harming American Workers.
The H-1B Visa guest worker program has “RESERVED” millions of high-value jobs for citizens of foreign countries.
"Fake Job Ads” consistently and routinely DENY, DEPRIVE, EXCLUDE and DISCRIMINATE against United States Citizens during the hiring process.
Here is Cohen & Grigsby, a prominent immigration law firm, displaying their Good Faith Efforts To Recruit American Workers...
When companies have job opening, they "place an order" with job descriptions to third party recruiters like ManPower, Volt, Adecco, Robert Half, etc.
The job descriptions are not advertised publicly so that qualified US Citizens can apply.
This is a violation of EEO, the law of the land and the Civil Rights Act of 1967's "Unlawful Employment Practices'.
The available talent pool in the US workforce is being COMPLETELY BYPASSED
(and not just under-utilized).
Only mom & pop recruiting firms willing to $ub$cribe to the large third party firms services can see the job descriptions and then submit resumes from H-1bs…
Resume Blaster Streams $ubScribe to their service… also a violation of EEO… segregating resumes by National Origin…
and it is all automated using information technology.
Out in the field, we are not seeing the job descriptions and the most meritorious candidates are not receiving any job offers. US Citizens and Green Card Holders never know the job openings even existed.
This is exclusion / discrimination.
The H1b take rates have come down significantly over last few years. Unemployment is still rising.. Any correlation. No..
US has lost a correlation between consumer spending and job growth. The basic reason is outsourcing of manufacturing. There was a very strong correlation between housing growth and Job growth because those jobs could not be outsourced. I go to buy in a supermarket and of 1000 dollars that i spend there, only few remains here. A large chunk goes to China and remaining to some other small countries. The problem is that US cannot do much on that issue. So despite all these hue and cry nothing is going to happen much. Only H1b stopping will not create new jobs in US. There are many other issues as well..
I have a simple thing to say. I work in a high position, amongst a very few in my area, virtually 0 americans pursuing my specialised area of engineering, am still on H1B, very nice salary, my company is one superb place to work, i love the US, i love my India too. But – the s**t I have to bend to in front of visa officers, US consulates, unnecessary delays, unwarranted punishments for mistakes done by US dept of state is taking a toll on me and my family. I virtually do not care for my US citizen child to stay in the US. He is better off in India. For the salary I get here, its not worth the nonsense I have to go through on the name of legal immigration, and to avoid fraud. The US immigration system does not reward people who behave well. My India does. Thank you, US. Have fun.
then why the s**t do you have to live in the u.s. go back to india. The point i am trying to make is when you are in a different country you have to accept their immigration rules and obey them. And remember that no matter what colour card you have you are always a second class citizen
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