Bill Gates Lobbying for Unlimited H-1Bs

Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 3:11 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

by Rob Sanchez
April 27, 2005 No. 1242

Bill Gates is actively lobbying Congress to get rid of all limits to
the number of H-1B visas that can be issued.

Gates threw in some insults to unemployed programmers in order to
convince DC insiders and politicos that anyone that deserves a job has
one - in his view the only ones that can't find jobs are losers:

"Anybody who's got good computer science training, they are
not out there unemployed," Gates said. "We're just not seeing
an available labor pool."

Gates commented that if he were the kind of the United States, "I'd
certainly get rid of the H1-B visa cap," Unfortunately Bill Gates is
almost a king, and he almost always gets what he wants from Congress.
He has almost unlimited amounts of money to woo Congress-critters, and
it sounds like he is ready to throw his weight around Washington D.C.

THIS IS VERY BAD NEWS, FOLKS!

If you have recently received some phone calls for interviews lately it
is probably because companies can't hire new H-1Bs this year due to the
fact that the limit has been reached on visas. If Bill Gates manages to
open the floodgates, you better get that resume to Fry's and Radio
Shack ASAP because that's the only job you are going to find.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBZXQZY18E.html

Apr 27, 2005

Microsoft Wants End to Limits on Overseas Hiring
By Ted Bridis
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates urged the Bush
administration and lawmakers Wednesday to abolish immigration limits on
foreign engineers who can be hired by U.S. companies, a sensitive
subject among American technology workers watching their own jobs
increasingly move overseas.
During an infrequent visit to lobby personally for changes in federal
policy, the world's richest executive said the government should
eliminate the limit of 65,000 for overseas workers who can be hired
each year by American firms under specialty "H1-B" visas aimed at
drawing engineers, scientists, architects and doctors to the United
States.

"The whole idea of the H1-B visa thing is, don't let too many smart
people come into the country," Gates said during an invitation-only
panel discussion at the Library of Congress. "The thing basically
doesn't make sense."

Responding to a question about policy changes Gates would make if he
were king, Gates said he "probably will get myself in trouble on this
one." He endorsed more intensive study of nuclear power, improvements
to U.S. schools and higher research spending by government.

"I'd certainly get rid of the H1-B visa cap," Gates added. "That's one
of the easiest decisions."

Gates and other leading technology executives have pressed Congress
aggressively to let them hire more foreign employees by raising visa
limits, but Gates hasn't previously campaigned to abolish the
immigration law entirely. Technology executives have argued they are
unable to find qualified American workers, a contention disputed by
U.S. labor groups and unemployed computer engineers.

"Anybody who's got good computer science training, they are not out
there unemployed," Gates said. "We're just not seeing an available
labor pool."

The Commerce Department undersecretary for technology, Phil Bond,
cautioned Gates during his talk that unemployment among U.S. computer
engineers regularly exceeds unemployment in other industries. "The
politics of that are real," Bond said. Government figures showed 5.7
percent of information technology employees were out of work last year
versus 5.5 percent of all workers.

The debate over U.S. technology companies hiring more foreigners occurs
in the wake of the 2001 terrorism crackdown on immigration and amid
increasing concerns about the theft of U.S. corporate secrets. The Bush
administration has set up a counterintelligence office and published a
first-ever strategy for preventing espionage against U.S. companies and
the government.

"We still have to focus on border security," Rep. David Dreier,
R-Calif., told Gates at his talk. "We can't be so naive as to believe
there is not a very serious border security problem with which we have
to contend."

Some labor groups criticized Gates' remarks.

"It's increasingly difficult for U.S.-based programmers to find work,"
said Marcus Courtney, organizer of the Seattle-based Washington
Alliance of Technology Workers. "There is no support in the American
public for completely abolishing the H1-B visa program and allowing
companies to import foreign labor for these high-paying jobs."

Microsoft: www.microsoft.com

Washington Alliance of Technology Workers: www.washtech.org

Visa information: http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/h1b.htm

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