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| Economy |
| Silicon Valley talent dream tied to immigrant hopes |
| 2013-02-18 |
| [FRANCE24] Silicon Valley's long crusade to break open doors to America for foreigners with key technology skills hinges on a political battle in Washington over broader immigration reform. For more than a decade, the tech sector has been struggling to get more visas and green cards for immigrants with engineering, math or science skills. While Silicon Valley has been largely backing reform-minded Democratic candidates including President Barack Obama, Republicans have begun paying attention to broader immigration reform, an issue dear to US Latinos. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 More to the point I am an engineer and I did not encourage my two sons to go into a field where citizens are treated so badly by the government and corporations. That's part of why you don't see as many citizens graduating into that rigged game. |
| Posted by: Water Modem 2013-02-18 21:53 |
| #5 Procopius2k is right on the money! |
| Posted by: Water Modem 2013-02-18 21:51 |
| #4 There are, at most, a handful of people who are ESSENTIAL to a project. Someone like Linus Torvalds is definitely a "win" to have come to the US. But yer average H1B visa-holder is just an indentured servant. The idea that their technical skills are better than an American's is laughable -- the problem is that the US citizen will cost more and be able to change jobs. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2013-02-18 11:09 |
| #3 I would also add that because the H1B visa is tied to the job, not the person, you will be guaranteed a VERY compliant employee. Y'all don't be gettin' uppity in here now! |
| Posted by: bigjim-CA 2013-02-18 10:51 |
| #2 Selling the birthright of Americans. Originally 1HB visas were counted in thousands back in the early 80s. They've exceeded hundreds of thousands today. Literally for decades they've been awarded and in doing so destroyed the incentive to grow our own. Why put in 4 to 6 years for that piece of paper when the companies can hire lobbyists to keep the flow of foreign help going. The companies have the foreign employee by the green card to keep him indentured versus a free man to sell his skills to the competition. What's there not to like, if you're the employer. It's one big game. The company runs want ads with page long requirements that no one can meet. It then uses that as a basis for justifying hiring a foreign worker. There is no check back to see if said hire comes closer than any American applicant in filling the job. This has been going on for decades. It's long time for American businesses to grow their own. They have had literally generations to do this. Instead, keep the lobbyist paid to stay in the ear of the reelection fund Congresscritter. The friggin bean counters treat employees as liabilities and balk at putting someone on contract for years invested in training which you would do if you paid for the training to get a return on investment. Yet, this is exactly what the Department of Defense does daily. Earn a skill with contractual obligations incurred. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-02-18 09:01 |
| #1 IIRC MSM-Net > Silicon Valley has been supplanted by a whole bunch of International hubs whom are just as Tech + Innovation proficient, iff not better [+ cheaper]. Governor Brown is gonna need more than that to effec revitalize the valley + make it competitive again. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2013-02-18 00:25 |