Every day we hear about the great "worker shortage" in Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics and we need more H-1B guest worker Visas and how we need even more employer controlled immigration. Yet, repeatedly Front Paged the statistics show There is no worker shortage.
So, how come these very corporations are laying off Science Professionals in droves?
Large multi-national companies have been saying for years that they need more workers from overseas because they can’t find enough American workers to fill these positions.
Sen. Sanders on the Senate floor, 05.24.07:
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the next decade, 2 million jobs will be created in mathematics, engineering, computer science, and physical science. That equates to about 200,000 jobs a year times 10 equals 2 million jobs. Under this legislation, the number of H-1B visas would increase to as many as 180,000 a year. That means virtually every job, about 90 percent that will be created in the high-tech sector over the next 10 years could conceivably be taken by a H -1B visa holder
Yet, some of these same companies have recently announced major lay-offs!
From this database that collects layoff announcements and the top 200 H-1B employer list, here is a sampling:
- IBM
On May 30, 2007, Reuters reported that IBM will be laying-off 1,570 U.S. workers bringing their total lay-offs to about 3,700 this year. Last year alone, IBM received 1,324 H-1B visas. IBM ranks #8 in the top H-1B Visa applicants. It gets much worse, there is inside information that they are planning on laying off 150,000 workers in the United States.
- Oracle
Oracle is ranked #9 in H-1B Visa applicants and has been most active in demanding congress give unlimited H-1B Visas. From the The New York Times - March 20, 2006, the business software giant and voracious consumer of once-powerful rivals like PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems, will report earnings this week, after announcing that it will lay off 2,000 workers, about 3 percent of its total work force.
- INTEL
Intel is number 14 on the H-1B list with 828 new Visas in FY06. Yet Intel has laid off over 1,000 in Rio Rancho in 2007, over 500 in Folsom, CA in 2006, 1,000 managers in 2006 and plans to "pare it's workforce" by 15,000. Yet again in 2006 Intel announced 10,500 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force will be fired. Intel has a brutal evaluation system and uses this constant employment churn to hid the real extent of their firings.
- Motorola
On May 31, 2007, the Financial Times reported that Motorola would be cutting an additional 4,000 jobs on top of an earlier 3,500 job reduction designed to generate annual savings of $400 million. Last year alone, Motorola received 760 H-1B visa’s as reported by InformationWeek. Motorola is #18th in the top 200 H-1B Visa applicants.
- Dell
Dell Computers. On June 1, 2007, the Los Angeles Times reported that Dell would be eliminating 10% of its workforce slashing 8,800 jobs. From 2001 to 2003, Dell applied for more than 600 H-1B visas and the CEO of Dell has said that "We are disarming the economy of the United States if we don't allow skilled workers to come in." Dell is by no means the worse H-1B offender, yet they are part of the Corporate lobbying organization writing and pushing legislation to destroy the US middle class.
If there is truly a shortage of workers in the U.S. , why would some of the largest high-tech companies lay-off thousands of American workers?
The answer is they shouldn’t.
The Sanders-Grassley amendment prohibits companies that have announced mass lay-offs from receiving any new visas, unless these companies could prove that overall employment at their companies would not be reduced by these lay-offs.
The companies that are truly experiencing labor shortages would not be impacted by this amendment and could continue to receive an increase in employer-sponsored visas. But, companies that are laying-off thousands of Americans would be prevented from importing workers from overseas.
COMPANIES LAYING-OFF THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN WORKERS DON’T NEED MORE EMPLOYER-SPONSORED VISAS
Support the Sanders-Grassley Amendment to the Immigration Reform Bill!