Your points are a realistic reflection of the current needs and issues facing the H-1B Visa program.
At the same time one cannot deny that a large number of Indian H-1B Visa Holders(especially those coming from smaller shops not the larger firms) are abused(by being made to work harder than normal and paid less than market rates) and treated very poorly in America by their employers.
The reasons why they submit to the exploitation is in the hope that they will one day get a Green card and so stay on in America on a permanent basis.
The reason why employers exploit them is primarily because they can do it and also because of the extremely High Visa(and other Fees) incurred by then in the process of bringing them to America.
Tales of Body-Shopping/Wage-Slaves are legion.
Also you cannot deny that Unemployment amongst Americans has increased this Recession started in 2008.Albleit amongst the IT Crowd its still quite low(4%);but that does'nt mean it is'nt there.
That is why I proposed a Total Closure of the Program to anyone who does not have a Degree from an accredited American University.
Its a solution which benefits America in the Short-term and the Long-term.
As I posted on this issue here earlier;I fully support Reform of the H-1B Visa Program.As it stands today it is open to tremendous amounts of Abuse with very little benefit to the American Economy.
In fact,I highly recommend closing it to anyone who does not have an American Degree[Currently,Foriegn Citizens who have American Degrees don't have to apply through this quota for an H-1B Visa].
If we believe that American Education is the pinnancle of World Education then we also can't deny the fact that increasing numbers of Foriegners who are educated in America are forced to go back to their respective countries because they find the entire Visa Process(and the resultant screening by DHS Goons especially when they are put on TRIPs lists) humiliating;inspite of the fact that they have found jobs in America and want to stay here.
So this is the right way forward-Close the Program to anyone who does not have a Degree from an Accredited American University but at the same time make it easier for anyone with and American Degree to get H-1Bs/Employment Visas in America.
This will also have the indirect effect of giving a further boost to American Universities(as more students will opt for them because it then becomes easier to Get Jobs in America).
Regards
Ashish.
P.S This will most definitely ensure a level playing field(which you attest to here);by reducing the possibility of Lower pay rates for IT Professionals. I am sure you would agree.
"I am sorry to disappoint you,but this is precisely how a Free-Market in Labour operates."
I think you misunderstood me. I wasn't complaining about free markets. You'll notice I was, instead, countering the myth that H1-B immigrants are needed because of special skills that are missing in US workers.
You'll recall that the H1-B program is not intended to allow replacement of US workers. Employers have to attest that they are not replacing US workers with H1-B workers. They have to also attest that they are paying the prevailing wage to H1-B workers.
Their attestations aren't matching the reality of the situation. H1-B workers don't have special skills, but they are being paid less.
In other words, the intent of the law is being circumvented. My intent was to point out the sham, but of course the sham and myth are needed to allow the continuation of the program.
It would be more honest to admit that the real intention of the program is to lower pay rates.
You seem like a reasonably smart person with a misguided sense of History and Economics.
So let me correct you on the various points you made in your post.
Point 1)Now that Americans have done all the hard work of building civilization, the rest of the world wants to flood in-China and India both have Histories going by Thousands of Years(unlike the Few Hundred Years that you talk about in America's case).
Point 2)Indians and Chinese didn't start arriving in large numbers until 1998.
The First Chinese who entered America were brought here for the Expansion of the Rail-road system;specifically the Transcontinetal Rail-road in the 1860s.They were brought here as Slaves.All throughout the Railroad system in America ,you can see monuments to all those thousands Chinese who died working on the Rail-road system.They were then also taken to Hawaii to work on the Sugar Plantations there.
In New York,you can visit the MTA Mueseum,which talks about how the Entire Subway system(particularly the underground stretch) was built by Slaves who were Transported from Africa and the moment they got off the Boat at Ellis Island;they were straightaway taken to the Underground Pits were the Subway work was going on and made to work without Food ,Water or Rest untill they died of exhaustion.They then just brought in more Slaves and this is how the Subway was completed.Its all there for everybody to see at the MTA Mueseum on 130 Livingston Street in Brooklyn.Pay a visit and educate yourself.
This was again in the 1860s.
The First bunch of Indians came to the Americas to work on Sugar Plantations ,especially on the Caribbean Islands of Antigua,Barbados,Trinidad and Guyana(Mainland South America)in the 1760s.They were slaves.These were then followed by those who came in the 1960s and 1970s,where they were basically fleeing the Regime of East African Dictators like Idi Amin. In case you have'nt noticed,90% of all Motels and Small Convenience Stores in America are owned and operated by Indians(most of these came from East Africa or the UK initially,before they were joined by more family members from India).
Point 3)How did America manage for the 506 years before that? We did just fine, thank you-
You did more than fine,America boomed.On Slave Labour.
Point 4)Every immigration wave to the U.S. since 1900 has led to recession or depression- The Period since the 1900s and especially the periods you are attesting were marked by another factor you seem to have missed.The Federal Reserve made Money Super-Cheap by explicitly devaluing the value of the US Dollar(this is an undeniable fact and can very easily seen in the Value of Gold Today and back then).
Its the advent of this Easy money which caused the Booms and Busts since then to aggravate in Size and Intensity.
Point 5)America was built by Americans-As I have clearly explained above that is not the case;Unless you call those Slaves who were forcibly captured in China,India and Africa and then brought over to America as American Citizens.If that was the case;then Why were they not paid Cash? Why were they made to work until they Died of exhaustion???
Point 6)China and India don't have open borders-I am not an expert on Chinese Immigration Policies but what I can attest to is that its not easy for Immigrants to move to China and work there primarily because of Language and Cultural Barriers.This in itself creates a barrier for Labor Surplus regions to export Labor to China.In India's case,India has Open Borders with Nepal,Bhutan,Sri Lanka,South Korea,Singapore,Hong Kong and Bahrain-In all these countries,Indians can get a Visa on Arrival( In the case of the first three countries Indians don't even a need a Passport to Enter).Why is that so?
Its because of a Reciprocal Arrangement for Indian Citizens.The Indian Govt is very good in this respect.If you give our Citizens Visas on Arrival we will also give you Visas on Arrival.Simple.The Rules for Jobs are different from country to country.
India has benefitted enormously from this Open Borders policy with Cheap labor particularly from Nepal and Bangladesh doing the Jobs which Indians don't want to do today(just like what Mexicans and other Latin Americans are doing in America).
In case you are not a Citizen of these countries,blame your own Govt not the Indian Govt for making it hard for you to Get Visas to India.
The Reason why India and China are booming are down to six simple factors
1)They are willing to work harder than the West,
2)They save more than the West,
3)Positive Demographics,
4)Natural Base Effect(its easier for a Trillion Dollar economy to become a Two Trillion Dollar economy;than it is for a 14 Trillion Dollar economy to become a 28 trillion Dollar economy),
5)Pro-Growth Policies-Removal of Red Tape and Reforms,
and
6)Flooding their respective economies with Cheap Money(in china's case its more than the US itself).
Point 7)Free Trade caused WW2-The Biggest factor that brought America into world war 2 was the blockade of Japan(just like what they are trying to do to Iran today).The Japanese were not interested in Attacking America and would have gone about their business fighting the Brits in Asia if it were'nt for the fact that the Americans blocked off Japanese access to Fuel .Who was responsible for that? FDR.In fact,FDR was always angling for a fight with the Japanese but Congress refused to permit him;until the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbour.
As for the Free Trade link-Remember the Smoot-Hawley Act in 1930? That was the one Act passed by US Congress(which created reciprocal Actions by other countries) which was more responsible than any other of Destroying the Global Economy back then.
Don't know your own History?I don't blame you.You must have fallen asleep in History class.
Competition is and always has been good for the Global Economy by reducing Slack in the system.Too bad we are now entering a period of Increased Protectionism worldwide.
I am sorry to disappoint you,but this is precisely how a Free-Market in Labour operates.
Outside the Western World ,nobody would be surprised by this kind of news.
For the Simple Reason-You don't work;You don't Eat.
Nobody in Asia has access to 99 week unemployment benefits or 0% Financing on Cars,Clothes & Electronics or 5% Interest rates on Housing Loans....
Which clearly shows you how dis-incentivised Americans are to work.
There is another set of stats that I find particularly stunning-
1)More than 55% of all Americans pay No taxes at all to Federal Government.
2)15% of all Americans today are on Food Stamps.
3)Close to 40% of all Americans are dependent on some form of Govt for Income today.
4)Net Savings for Median American today is just USD 6000.[If you Subtract their Total Debt from their Total Assets]-And this does'nt even take into account the Total Government Debt burden!
Now,what happens when you don't pay any taxes to the Govt? You lose an economic incentive to curb Govt spending(through Benefits,etc) & demand more and more Govt spending[Even when the Govt can't afford it like today.All it will take is for Interest Rates to rise by 2% to force the US Govt to default].
To get an idea of some of the Economic problems America faces today please read
For all those who think that the Asians are continuing to buy huge numbers of US Govt Treasuries (to devalue their currencies vs the US Dollar)-I have news for you.Excluding the Japanese ,Net Asia Buyers of US Treasuries are down sharply from 2009 onwards.So who's Buying? The US Federal Reserve.
What does it mean?
A Devaluation of the US Dollar to beat all Devaluations is coming.
I had linked to this article earlier also showing how hard working Chinese are (it was the result of Western Consumer pressure on Apple that they cut worker Hours ,especially paid Over-time at their main Supplier Foxconn in China).
The result-The Workers are protesting because they want to work more!!!
They are there to work and Not to play!
And if you are wondering that you can retrain all the staff there at that Amazon warehouse to become IT Professionals....
Again,I have news for you-Its not gonna happen.
Most of those workers(at the warehouse) came from the Construction Industry.
For the last two decades when America benefitted from a Global Supply of Cheap labor (because they helped to push down prices of products which American consume)nobody in America complained or cared how those products were made.
Now suddenly everyone is talking about it as if it is a major scandal!
You have got to be kidding me - Pandit was the one who shipped 65,000 Citi jobs to India before running the company into the ground. HCL was banned from working for Boeing by FAA because the software they wrote was crap. And 10,000 jobs? TWENTY EIGHT MILLION jobs have been destroyed in the US since 1998. Of course the Indian bodyshop conmen are going to go into PR mode. What else are they going to say? Yes, we're stealing your jobs? Of course they will create jobs for locals - local imported guest workers is what they mean! Merkle by the way annonced a few months ago that "multiculturalism is a failure". Americans aren't buying your lies anymore. We know all about your "friendly takeover" plan. Don't think all Americans are stupid because we are not.
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Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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