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Round 6: H-1B Battle - American engineering's "April Fools"
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"Good morning, you're fired and getting replaced by a software engineer from India with an H-1B visa ... APRIL FOOLS!" This is a bad joke to play on an engineer these days, because it is just too close to actually being true.
The root of "April Fools Day" goes back to the 1500s when the New Year date was moved from April 1st to Jan 1st. Those who were unaware of the change were open to pranks and jokes. They were the "April Fools".
April 1st, 2007, is still, however, the beginning of the new year for H-1B applications, and it is American engineers unaware of these activities who are once again the April Fools.
Immigration lawyers, representing tech companies and foreign nationals, sent thousands of couriers to hand-deliver H-1B applications to the USCIS, hoping to make it in time. The H-1B cap is expected to be reached within a day or as fast as CIS workers can humanly-possibly process them. Ironically, American technology and Indian outsourcing companies are now battling each other to reserve their place in the biggest rush for fool's gold in modern history.
But who's really the fool here?
Who's the fool?
The H-1B program has been making fools of American engineers since its inception by restraining their trade in a variety of ways. The H-1B program has made fools of guest workers who are treated as indentured servants. The H-1B program is also turning American college students into fools because it discourages them from studying math and science. The H-1B program is now making fools of politicians. They can't vote to increase the cap for fear of losing their next election, but they must vote to increase it to get campaign contributions from large tech companies. The H-1B program has also been making fools of American technology companies who are now finding that the visas are being used up by Indian outsourcing companies before they get a chance to utilize them.
Those same technology companies have foolishly shot themselves in the foot by reducing the size of their American engineering workforce while insourcing and outsourcing as much as possible over the past decade. Motivated mostly to increase quarterly profits, this short-sighted behavior has left American companies with a reduced engineering knowledge base and over-dependent on the continuance of guest worker programs and outsourcing practices.
Politicians have proven themselves to be out of touch with their mostly middle-class constituents and disproportionately beholden to their big business campaign contributors. Politicians have proven themselves to be disconnected from realities in the engineering field by repeating foolish phrases such as "desperate shortage of engineers and IT professionals", "America cannot compete without H-1B guest workers" and "Jobs Americans can't or won't do".
Bill Gates has made a fool of himself by shamelessly misrepresenting an important engineering issue when testifying to Congress in Washington D.C., while his own workers are contradicting his statements at his Redmond headquarters (near Seattle) in Washington state.
President Bush has shown himself to be out of touch with American citizens, foolishly parroting the talking points of big business without considering consultation with engineering or labor organizations.
Senators and House members foolishly ignored the advice of IEEE-USA and IEEE members by pushing ahead with bills containing H-1B cap increases with no reforms considered, first with senior Senators McCain (R-AZ) and Kennedy (D-MA), and then with junior House members, Guiterrez (D-IL) and Flake (R-AZ). This may become the most foolhardy act of all if angry, web-savvy, middle-class engineers decide to mount an internet-campaign against them during the next election cycle.
The H-1B program has now made fools of almost everyone.
Who are NOT the fools?
Some parties, however, have not been made fools of. In fact, they've been playing an April Fools prank on all Americans. Outsourcing companies, 7out of 10 from India, have played a bad joke on American engineers, American companies, American students, and American politicians, playing all of them for fools. The top 10 H-1B requestors of 2006 are all outsourcing companies, who use the H-1B program to train their junior engineers in America, and rotate them back to their country of origin to facilitate outsourcing contracts. This is a list of the top 10 companies who applied for H-1B visas last year:
1. Infosys
2. Wipro
3. Cognizant
4. Patni
5. Mphasis
6. HCL America
7. Deloitte & Touche
8. Tata
9. Accenture
10. Satyam
International American-based corporations, Microsoft and IBM are numbers 15 and 18 respectively.
The chief of business and trade services for USCIS, Efran Hernandez, said, " ...there is no preference given to U.S. companies over non-U.S. companies. You have to be a U.S. employer ... That doesn't mean you have to be a U.S. company."
One man who was not made into a fool is billionaire, Azim Premji (net worth: 6.4 billion), the owner of Wipro, who, thanks to the this program, is now on the Forbes list of the world's richest men, along with Bill Gates. Another billionaire created by outsourcing and the H-1B program is Shiv Nadar, (net worth: 1.2 billion), owner of HCL Technologies. These are just two examples of engineering companies from India listed above, who are reaping the rewards of this international corporate welfare program. The list goes on and on as these practices continue under the noses and behind the backs of American voters.
Who cares?
Americans have been notoriously apathetic about politics and American engineers are guilty, too. On top of that, engineers are, by nature of their work, very passive and introverted. It has taken engineers a decade to begin to wake up to this problem. Most are still ambivalent about the struggle that engineering and labor organizations such as IEEE-USA, AFL-CIO, CWA, Washtech, Programmers Guild, Compete American Workers, The American Engineering Association, TORAW, and Techsunite, to name a few, are currently having with lawmakers on their behalf.
Currently, there is a massive lobbying campaign in the Capital by big business to dramatically expand guest worker and legal immigration programs beyond just engineering and IT professions. In fact, every high and low skilled job in America is on the way to the auction block, sold to the lowest bidder. While most engineers and other US citizens sit on their hands, Senate and House lawmakers, who are heavily influenced and lobbied by large corporations, take advantage of the apathy and continue to attack middle-class Americans.
So continue to enjoy playing pranks and practical jokes on your close friends on April 1st every year, but be careful what you say and do because next year, the "April Fool" may be you.
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- Patrick Thibodeau: Land rush for H-1B visas expected Monday
- Patrick Thibodeau: House bill seeks to more than double H-1B visa cap
- Patrick Thibodeau: Gates: U.S. risks losing technology leadership role
- Dino Perrotti: Round 6: H-1B Battle - American engineering's "April Fools"
- Dino Perrotti: Round 5: H-1B Battle: McCain, Kennedy RETREAT! IEEE-USA offers SOLUTION!
- Dino Perrotti: Round 4: H-1B WAR - IEEE-USA vs. Bill Gates!
- Dino Perrotti: Round 3: H-1B Battle - American engineers vs. senior Democrats!
- Dino Perrotti: Round 2: H-1B Battle: American engineers vs. President Bush!
- Dino Perrotti: American Engineers vs. tech management: H-1B battle: Round 1 - US citizens WIN!
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