Just a little note on that Ford article. Ford recognizes that keeping a
knowledgebase
of core competencies is needed. A project is now in place to locate and
hire the
key people who keep the place running. After ten years as a contractor
working
at a Ford site I was hired in directly to work for Ford in December.
"Jerry Leslie" <[log in to unmask]> wrote in message
news:a3ats7$s1t$1@joe.rice.edu...
> Mark Wilkinson ([log in to unmask]) wrote:
> : To me, the outlook is bleak for the IT world. Opinions on a postcard
> : please...
> :
>
> The same in the US, where 7.8% of computer programmers were unemployed
> as of November, 2001:
>
> http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011213S0024
> InformationWeek > IT Jobless Rate > IT Jobless Rate Hits 5.5% In
November
> December 13, 2001
>
> "...Computer programmers experienced the biggest increase in
joblessness,
> with their unemployment rate soaring to 7.8% last month, from 1.7% a
> year earlier. Computer systems analysts' joblessness rose to 4.5%,
> from 1.8% in November 2000..."
>
> The US is offshore outsourcing a lot of IT work to India, China, Russia,
> and are starting to offshore outsource other jobs; e.g.:
>
> o accounts payable
> o helpdesk support
> o insurance claim processing
> o credit-card processing
> o CAD/CAM
> o medical transcription
> o e-mail processing
>
> Here's some articles on offshore outsourcing:
>
> http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-8324464.html
> India becoming world's back office - Tech News - CNET.com
>
> http://www.computerworld.com/storyba/0,4125,NAV47_STO58739,00.html
> Ford opens IT hub in India to save millions | Computerworld News &
> Feature Stories
>
> http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svtop/global010601.htm
> Eager workforce, lower costs shift tech help overseas (1/05/2002)
>
> In addition to offshore outsourcing, the US has its H-1B visa program,
> where hundred of thousands of immigrant IT workers are imported to fill
> a mythical labor shortage.
>
> Similar programs exist in the UK and Australia:
>
> http://www.shout99.com/contractors/showarticle.pl?n=&id=11483
> Government justifies Fast-Track foreign IT with 1999 information
>
> http://www.contractoruk.co.uk/news070102.html
> Are IT skills shortage schemes being abused?
>
> In the H-1B program's laws are not being enforced. Even some H-1Bs are
> complaining about lack of enforcement:
>
> http://www.latimes.com/business/la-112101visa.story
> U.S. Tech Firms Abusing Visa Program, Critics Say
>
> By JUBE SHIVER Jr. , Times Staff Writer
>
> [snip]
>
> "Amid the tight job market, there are concerns about abuses of the H-1B
> visa holders themselves. A few immigrants have begun campaigning for
> reform of the program, citing instances of employers paying low wages
> and threatening to seek the deportation of foreign workers who
> complain.
>
> The GAO--which found that foreigners were offered a median starting
> salary of $45,000 last year--said there is little policing of the H-1B
> program by the INS.
>
> Devarakonda, of the Immigrants Support Network, agreed with the GAO's
> assessment. "The current system is certainly flawed," he said. "The
> government doesn't have the resources to police" H-1B.
>
> The lack of enforcement has been known since 1998...
>
> http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2166105,00.html
> H1-B safety net fails IT workers
> By Stephanie Neil
> eWEEK
> November 18, 1998 6:10 AM PT
>
> [ snip ]
>
> And, although the new law says the salary of the H1-B holder is
> supposed to be posted in the department in which the person is
> working, so that all workers know a competitive salary is being
> offered, this has not been done. The law also requires that each time
> the H1-B holder is transferred to a new job site, the sponsoring
> company must apply for a new visa for that person. That was not done,
> she said.
>
> This is common and uncontrollable, even under the new H1-B law, DOL
> officials admit.
>
> "Are there companies that are able to get away with it? Of course,"
> said the DOL's Fraser.
>
> "And if the question is, Why? The answer is that the law, until this
> new bill was enacted, didn't make that illegal," he said.
>
> The DOL will never be able to catch many of the offending parties, he
> admitted.
>
> "It is not due to a lack of concern or commitment to see that the
> right thing is happening. It is due to a weakness in the law. We've
> worked very hard in this new bill to make a little progress toward
> closing some of those loopholes ... but we don't have the power to
> track all the companies," he said.
>
> The DOL does not perform spot checks on companies that they suspect
> may be breaking the H1-B law, Fraser said. Rather, they rely upon
> complaints. In the last fiscal year, through September, there were
> only 63 complaints filed..."
>
> Those 63 complaints is NOT any indicator that the employers of H-1Bs
> are following the law.
>
>
> http://www.fairus.org/html/11-9-00.htm
> FAIR - GAO Condemns H-1B Foreign Worker Program
>
> "A new report from Congresss investigative arm, the General Accounting
> Office (GAO), has found that the H-1B system for bringing in foreign
> workers is so badly set up and administered that very little is done
> to prevent fraud and abuse of the system.
>
> The report (H-1B Foreign Workers: Better Controls Needed to Help
> Employers and Protect Workers, GAO/HEHS-00-157, September 2000) found
> the following:
>
> * The Department of Labor has almost no authority to enforce the
> provisions that are supposed to ensure that foreign workers are
> used only where necessary and not to undercut the wages of native
> workers.
>
> * The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) doesnt have the
> information it needs to assess whether an employers application
> for a foreign worker is valid.
>
> * INS reviewers are evaluated on how many H-1B applications they
> process not how well they review them, which means they have
> incentive to rubberstamp as many applications as they receive.
>
> * Once the INS approves foreign workers, it doesnt know whether or
> when they arrive or leave.
>
> * Even when the Department of Labor knows there is fraud or abuse,
> they can do little about it..."
>
> Source: H-1B Foreign Workers: Better Controls Needed to Help Employers
> and Protect Workers,
> GAO/HEHS-00-157, September 2000."
>
>
> The cited GAO report is available at:
>
> http://www.gao.gov/new.items/he00157.pdf
> "H-1B Foreign Workers: Better Controls Needed to Help Employers
> and Protect Workers", GAO/HEHS-00-157, September 2000.
>
> The INS only has 40 staffers to deal with fraud in the H-1B and all
> other visa applications:
>
> http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/special/visa/
> SiliconValley.com - Special Reports
>
> "...H-1B visa fraud is not uncommon, ranging from academic degrees
> faked overseas to phony job offers in the United States. The
> Immigration and Naturalization Service has only 40 staffers at its
> service centers nationwide to investigate fraud in H-1B and all
> other visa applications..."
>
> So there's little risk in paying the H-1B worker less than the prevailing
> wage.
>
> Many of the US IT workers are unaware of offshore outsourcing and the H-1B
> program, allowing Congress to pass laws such as the H-1B laws to earn
> their contributions from high-tech companies. If they ever become
outraged,
> they can contact their elected representatives, whose voting records and
> postal & email addresses are available at:
>
> http://www.vote-smart.org/index.phtml
> Project Vote Smart - A Voter's Self Defense System
>
> The answer they'll get will probably be like Senator Hatch's:
>
> http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/Library/Politicians/Hatch.htm
>
>
> --Jerry Leslie (my opinions are strictly my own)
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