Post by blueneck on Apr 14, 2007 6:28:41 GMT -6
Caught a great program late the other night on NPR called "On Point"
The subject of the show was H1B visas and its role in the outsourcing of US jobs.
The two premises of the program was first "why does the US need to import highly skilled and educated workers, aren't there enough here?" And the point really was that the US education system is failing a generation of students - that third world countries seem to be able to crank out highly educated workers for a fraction of what the most expensive system in the world can. They also touched on an issue that UC has brought up that companies used to train workers themselves, now they expect the govt to do it on the taxpayers dime.
The second and more alarming point was that over a third of the H1B visas are granted to outsourcing companies whose job it is to help US companies relocate to foreign countries. rather than using the H1B for its intended purpose to supposedly attract the "best and brightest" to the US, the opposite is happening, bring in the foreign workers to train them in US business practices and culture, and learn as much about the intellectual property as possible, then go back to their home countries to set up[ their own companies either to compete directly with the US ones, or more sinister, help US companies then set up their foreign operations.
The pro outsourcing guest was asked point blank if he felt that H1B workers depressed wages and discouraged US students from pursuing tech careers, the guest , as usual, stammered and tried to change the subject, the host asked him if he was dodging the question, the answer was something to the effect of "it is more complex of an issue than that, other "factors" are depressing wages.
The subject of the show was H1B visas and its role in the outsourcing of US jobs.
The two premises of the program was first "why does the US need to import highly skilled and educated workers, aren't there enough here?" And the point really was that the US education system is failing a generation of students - that third world countries seem to be able to crank out highly educated workers for a fraction of what the most expensive system in the world can. They also touched on an issue that UC has brought up that companies used to train workers themselves, now they expect the govt to do it on the taxpayers dime.
The second and more alarming point was that over a third of the H1B visas are granted to outsourcing companies whose job it is to help US companies relocate to foreign countries. rather than using the H1B for its intended purpose to supposedly attract the "best and brightest" to the US, the opposite is happening, bring in the foreign workers to train them in US business practices and culture, and learn as much about the intellectual property as possible, then go back to their home countries to set up[ their own companies either to compete directly with the US ones, or more sinister, help US companies then set up their foreign operations.
The pro outsourcing guest was asked point blank if he felt that H1B workers depressed wages and discouraged US students from pursuing tech careers, the guest , as usual, stammered and tried to change the subject, the host asked him if he was dodging the question, the answer was something to the effect of "it is more complex of an issue than that, other "factors" are depressing wages.