Intel Chairman wants more H-1Bs

Date: Thursday, February 09, 2006 2:47 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

February 09, 2006 No. 1414

Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel, is jumping on the Bush bandwagon. He goes
one up on Bush by not only saying we need to get rid of all limits to the
number of H-1B visas that are issued, he wants to skip the H-1B process by
giving automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from our
universities.

"We should just staple a green card to every advanced
degree granted to a foreign national from a US university
in science and engineering,"

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http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11221265/

Intel chairman calls for immigration reform

By Chris Nuttall in San Francisco
Financial Times
Updated: 10:40 p.m. ET Feb. 7, 2006

Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel, the world's largest semiconductor maker,
called for comprehensive immigration reform to make the US more
competitive, during a live question-and-answer session on FT.com.

Mr Barrett, one of a number of technology leaders including Bill Gates to
have criticised restrictions on foreign workers in the US, said the first
step in simplifying the immigration process would be "to replace the
current arbitrary quota system with an open market type approach".

The US's H1-B visa allows foreign engineers and scientists to work on a
temporary basis in the US but is capped at 65,000 a year. Mr Barrett said
this was inadequate: the current quota had been exhausted and there could
be no new admissions until another came into effect in October this year.

Mr Barrett said demand was also greater than supply for green cards that
allowed permanent employment, with the cap at 140,000 a year and long
processing delays meaning individuals having to wait up to seven years to
obtain one.

"These arbitrary caps undercut business's ability to hire and retain the
number of highly educated people in the fields where we need to maintain
our leading position," he said.

"Instead of arbitrary caps, a market-based approach that responds to demand
is needed."

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Mr Barrett was asked by an Intel employee why his company had stopped
sponsoring its workers for green cards between 2001 and 2004. The Intel
chairman said this was during the longest and deepest recession in the
semiconductor industry. It had been waiting for business conditions to
improve before resuming the process.

"We should just staple a green card to every advanced degree granted to a
foreign national from a US university in science and engineering," he said
in another answer.

Mr Barrett also advocated improvements in the US education system to make
America more competitive in technology fields.

"Today, we compare ourselves to our neighbours - California to Arizona,
Texas to Florida, etc. We do not compare ourselves to the rest of the world
and recognise that the bar of achievement, the level necessary for
competitiveness is continually being raised."

Craig Barrett: America should open its doors wide to foreign talent

Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.

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