two NPR shows on H-1B and outsourcing

Date: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 2:57 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1684 -- 5/02/2007 >>>>>

Two National Public Radio Shows (NPR) about H-1B and outsourcing are
online. Both shows are definitely worth your time but consider the first
one to be a must listen.

#1) I'm still stunned after listening to "Engineer Shortage? Duke Study
Says No". This 3.5 minute interview with Vivek Wadhwa is provocative and
incredibly blunt. I'm reluctant to say more because I don't want to spoil
it for you!

Don't make the mistake of trying to second-guess what Wadhwa says in the
interview based on his background because I guarantee you will be wrong.

Go here to read Wadhwa's biography:
http://www.asianamerican.net/bios/Wadhwa-Vivek.html

"Engineer Shortage? Duke Study Says No"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9910492

Morning Edition, April 30, 2007 7 Why are so many engineering jobs being
sent overseas? Leaders of tech companies say the United States does not
produce enough engineers. But a Duke University study says the real issue
is cheap overseas labor. Vivek Wadhwa discusses his study's findings.

#2) NPR has done several awful shows on H-1B. The 48 minute show titled "US
Work Visa Battles" was a big improvement. Although the panelists were
definitely slanted in favor of H-1B, Tom Ashbrook who hosted the show
didn't let them run amok. Ashbrook never hesitated to pin the shills down
when they attempted to dodge the truth.

Ron Hira was the only one invited with an opposing viewpoint. He held his
own considering he was outnumbered 3-1. Unfortunately Hira made an argument
in favor of increasing the number of green cards which played right into
the hands of Shotwell and Hoffman. Hira backed down when Hoffman stated
that the only alternative for America is to expand both green cards and
H-1B -- he even went as far as stating that it's impossible to do one
without the other.

Hira's reluctance to speak out against Green Cards stems from the fact that
his organization is IEEE-USA. Unfortunately the IEEE has taken the position
that the solution to the H-1B problem is to hand out unlimited numbers of
instant green cards -- nevermind the fact allowing this would do far more
damage to the engineering profession than a limited H-1B program.

I have debated the instant green card issue many times so I will resist the
temptation to repeat it here. Go to this web page to find out more about
green cards and H-1B visas:

http://www.jobdestruction.info/ShameH1B/H1BvsGreenCard.htm

At about the 26 minute mark the panel got a call from a programmer named
Julian who said he was replaced by an H-1B. His comments were probably the
high point of the show, although his situation was somewhat depressing to
listen to. Julian explained that he hasn't been able to find a job.
Hoffman, CEO of Oracle, wasted no time in telling Julian that his company
is always looking to hire qualified people. Hoffman callously told Julian
to go to the Oracle website to look for a new job. Hoffman's remark was
ludicrous considering his efforts to lobby for more H-1B visas.

Ashbrook cornered Hoffman on the wage issue who reluctantly had to concede
that American tech workers are earning less now than they used to. He made
a feeble effort to blow the wage issue off by saying that globalism was the
cause of lower wages -- not H-1B. That's a fallacy because H-1B is a
manifestation of globalism.

Top honors for the stupidest caller of the show would have to go to Steve
at the 33:30. He claimed he has suffered from age discrimination, and
seemed to understand that H-1B played a role, but felt we need to open our
borders to more immigration. It was rather hilarious when he extolled the
virtues of forcing Americans into a global competition for jobs, especially
considering that he was a victim. My advice to Steve: "The beatings will
continue until you get a brain!"

Immediately following Steve a dingbat college student called. She thought
immigrants were way cool because she can learn so much by living in a
global village. I almost fell off my chair from laughter when the dingbat
explained that she doesn't have to worry about being replaced by foreign
workers because she is soooooooooo smart and well educated. I could almost
picture her blowing bubble gum while she was talking.

http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/04/20070409_a_main.asp

US Work Visa Battles
Aired: Monday, April 09, 2007 10-11AM ET

By host Tom Ashbrook:

America's hard conversation on immigration tends to focus on illegal desert
border crossings and low-paid, low-skilled workers.

But there's another end of the immigration debate. Highly-educated,
high-skilled largely high-tech workers from abroad that the American
industry says it desperately needs to compete.

Tens of thousands already come every year. Business says it needs more of
the planet's best and brightest. Opponents say the program is abused, and
the US should educate its own high-tech talent.

This hour On Point: the high end of the immigration debate, over
highly-skilled workers, and who should be welcomed to the USA.

Quotes from the Show:

"The H1B visa is designed to allow skilled workers from other countries to
come to the US and work in American business. Typically these would be
people with skills that are rare here in the US." Peter Elstrom

"The companies that end up using these H1B visas are not always the
companies that you would expect. ... The companies that are the most active
applicants for these visas are outsourcing companies. In many cases they're
Indian outsourcing companies but they're also what we think of as US
companies." Peter Elstrom

"American employers are in a global race to attract and retain the talent
they need to develop new products and to provide the services that are in
demand in today's economy. And this is not unique to the United States.
None of the developed economies are producing enough domestic workers with
the necessary math and science skills for the 21st century economy." Lynn
Shotwell

"We need to be working on both fronts. Companies are putting millions of
dollars into efforts to improve our K-12 education system, to make sure
that we have the homegrown talent that we need. But if you look at the data
at who's coming out of US universities, over half of the people graduating
from US universities with advanced degrees in the math and sciences are
foreign-born nationals." Lynn Shotwell

"The one statistic that you can't ignore is the fact that we have over 560
thousand international students, mostly from India, China and Korea
enrolled in US colleges and universities. ...We're talking about attracting
people who are educated in this country, in a lot of cases with US tax
payer dollars, to try to keep them here." Robert Hoffman

"Many of the people in the IT profession are saying 'don't go into it'.
Part of the reason is because of outsourcing, part of it is because of the
H1B program. They feel that the government is actually working against
their profession." Ron Hira

7 Peter Elstrom, News Director of BusinessWeek Online. His article titled
"Work Visas May Work Against the U.S" appeared in the February 8 issue.

7 Lynn Shotwell, Executive Director of the American Council on
International Personnel

7 Ron Hira, Professor of Public Policy at Rochester Institute of
Technology and author of "Outsourcing America: What's Behind Our National
Crisis and How We Can Reclaim American Jobs"

7 Robert Hoffman, Vice President, Oracle Corporation and co-chair of
Compete America, which has lobbied to raise the cap on H1B visas

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