When the CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer who is born in Detroit says he wants to hire the most talented people he can regardless of their nation of birth and put them to work in the US to grow and help the entire US economy, that seems like a noble thought.
However due to the limits of the H1B visa, there are only so many people that he would like to that he can hire in any one year. And if that person happens to be a foreigner then that person has to pay all taxes, pay rent, pay for food, goods, utilities, etc. all of which when multiplied over many employees ends up pumping a lot of money into local economies and industries and employing people and via taxes paying for education and healthcare of US citizens.
Then if those highly talented help create new products and intellectual property for a company like Microsoft that fuels ever more jobs for people in the US and more wealth for the country.
In 2007, Ballmer says he was forced essentially due to these artificial caps on the H1B visa to open up a Research and Development facility in Vancouver, British Colombia in Canada a couple of hours north of the Redmond, Washington home of Microsoft.
The Canadian government is more open as far as their immigrant visas are concerned and thus they are no reaping the economic benefit of this facility and the cultural and intellectual goldmine from so many talented immigrants venturing to their shores including from the United States no less.
I guess this short story shows the reality of the situation and the absurdity of the Anti H-1B visa legislation intorduced to the US congress and its bogus conditions like the 50/50 rule. As we repeatedly said the politicians who created this legislation namely Senators Durbin and Grassley are so fixated on basic solutions and creating scapegoats that they will actually hurt the entire US economy and her citizens with their absurd actions.
Nonsense. The H1B program, while originally created to allow access to the world’s best and brightest and address a talent shortage, has now become a wage control on American workers. Particularly in light of the workforce cuts we are seeing in the US due to the economic hard times, the supply of available talent clearly outstrips the demand for it. Therefore, there should be no need to import talent from outside the US to satisfy the needs of business.
Unless, of course, simply fulfilling a business need isn’t really the driver behind the calls to raise the H1B caps.
Hi Lurch,
My favorite people who comment who just blindly believe what politicians tell them about the H1B program causing wage dampening and the fact that H1B holders take jobs away from locals. Both those things have been proven untrue in so many studies I cite in many posts and if you just Google people like Vivek Wadwha at Duke and Harvard. The facts are that H1B visa holders and immigrants have created so many jobs and wealth for Americans and that the economic mess we are all now in is because of all memebrs in Congress and the leaders of Corporate America. Almost without exception these people are US born citizens so while immigrants are creating jobs and helping the economy, locals are systematically destroying it.
CJ
Admin, you are misinformed, and ignorant of the facts. Companies use visa programs to undercut wage norms and get around labor standards. Basically, you don’t know what F you are talking about. If bringing over here from india is such a great idea, why don’t all companies just go over to india and do all of their over their? Why, in short because india is a 3rd world shit-hole.
Hehe the funny think about ppl like you “H1B Visa are Bullshit” is that you say we are ignorant of facts, yet we provide the facts while you provide empty rhetoric. Good luck being left behind in the 1950s.