<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER  No. 1964 -- 1/24/2009 >>>>>

In view of the 5,000 job positions that Microsoft is eliminating, questions
arise about what the mix is between H-1Bs vs. US citizens. This is a
poignant question especially considering that Bill Gates personally went to
Washington DC last year in order to lobby for unlimited H-1B visas. On
March 12, 2008 Bill Gates testified in front of Congress to make his case
for more H-1B visas:

   BILL GATES, MICROSOFT CHAIRMAN: The importance of being able to
   retain and hire these top engineers, world top engineers is
   super important.

   U.S. companies face a severe short fall of scientists and
   engineers with expertise to develop the next generation
   of breakthroughs.

Sen. Chuck Grassley just sent a letter to Microsoft to formally ask them
for details of their mass layoff. His questions are going to be tough ones
for Steve Ballmer because Grassley leaves him very room to fudge answers
with question like this one: "Are any of these jobs being cut held by H-1B
or other work visa program employees? If so, how many?" Grassley follows it
up with an even tougher question: "How many of the jobs being eliminated
are filled by Americans? Of those positions, is Microsoft retaining similar
ones filled by foreign guest workers? If so, how many?"

Microsoft PR guys are going to have a tough time spinning those questions.
Perhaps Microsoft HR will be ordered to fire more H-1Bs, and if that
happens we win!

It's going to be very interesting to see if MS ignores Grassley or they try
answer with hazy statistics and smoke and mirrors. Hopefully Grassley won't
let them off the hook if they try to BS their way out of the inquiry.

Microsoft is under no legal obligation to answer Grassley so if they
stonewall, what will be Grassley's next step? This story will be fun to
watch.

Lou Dobbs did an excellent report. See the video here or read the
transcript below:
http://loudobbs.tv.cnn.com/2009/01/23/is-microsoft-replacing-americans/

Be sure to read this commentary by Norm Matloff:

http://blog.vdare.com/archives/2009/01/24/dr-norm-matloff-on-senator-grassle
y-microsoft-and-h-1b/
Dr. Norm Matloff on Senator Grassley, Microsoft and H-1B


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=18922


For Immediate Release
January 23, 2009


Grassley Works to Ensure American Workers are Priority


            WASHINGTON -- Senator Chuck Grassley today said that in a time
of economic downturn, American workers must be a top priority for American
companies.  Grassley reiterated those words after he sent a letter to
Microsoft urging the company to make efforts to retain qualified American
workers during the recently announced lay-offs.
          

Microsoft employs thousands of people through the H-1B visa program. This
temporary work visa program allows American companies and universities to
employ temporary foreign guest workers who have the equivalent of a U.S.
bachelor’s degree in a job category that is considered by the U.S.
Citizenship & Immigration Services to be a "specialty occupation."  The
purpose of the h-1b program is to help companies hire foreign guest workers
on a temporary basis when there is not a sufficient qualified American
workforce to meet those needs.  However, the program is not intended to
replace qualified American workers.


In October 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released an
internal report that found the H-1B program has more than a 20 percent
violation rate. The fraud identified in the report included jobs not
located where employers claimed, H-1B visa holders not being paid the
prevailing wage, forged documents, fraudulent degrees, and shell
businesses.  In one instance the H-1B position described by the employer
was "business development analyst."  However, it turned out that the H-1B
visa holder would be working at a laundromat doing laundry and maintaining
washing machines.


Grassley has been a leader in the effort to improve the H-1B visa program.
In the 110th Congress, he introduced a comprehensive H-1B and L visa reform
bill with Senator Dick Durbin that would give priority to American workers
and crack down on unscrupulous employers who deprive qualified Americans of
high-skill jobs. He has also asked questions of both American and foreign
based companies about their use of the H-1B visa program.


Here is a copy of the text of Grassley’s letter


January 22, 2009


Mr. Steve Ballmer

Microsoft Corporation


One Microsoft Way

Redmond , WA   98052-6399

-----------------------------

Dear Mr. Ballmer:



I am writing to inquire about press reports that Microsoft will be cutting
approximately 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months.  I understand that the
layoffs will affect workers in research and development, marketing, sales,
finance, legal and corporate affairs, human resources, and information
technology.


I am concerned that Microsoft will be retaining foreign guest workers
rather than similarly qualified American employees when it implements its
layoff plan.  As you know, I want to make sure employers recruit qualified
American workers first before hiring foreign guest workers.  For example, I
cosponsored legislation to overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to give
priority to American workers and to crack down on unscrupulous employers
who deprive qualified Americans of high-skilled jobs.  Fraud and abuse is
rampant in these programs, and we need more transparency to protect the
integrity of our immigration system.  I also support legislation that would
strengthen educational opportunities for American students and workers so
that Americans can compete successfully in this global economy.


Last year, Microsoft was here on Capitol Hill advocating for more H-1B
visas.  The purpose of the H-1B visa program is to assist companies in
their employment needs where there is not a sufficient American workforce
to meet their technology expertise requirements.  However, H-1B and other
work visa programs were never intended to replace qualified American
workers.  Certainly, these work visa programs were never intended to allow
a company to retain foreign guest workers rather than similarly qualified
American workers, when that company cuts jobs during an economic downturn.


It is imperative that in implementing its layoff plan, Microsoft ensures
that American workers have priority in keeping their jobs over foreign
workers on visa programs.  To that effect, I would like you to respond to
the following questions:


*  What is the breakdown in the jobs that are being eliminated?  What kind
of jobs are they?  How many employees in each area will be cut?

* Are any of these jobs being cut held by H-1B or other work visa program
employees?  If so, how many?

*  How many of the jobs being eliminated are filled by Americans?  Of those
positions, is Microsoft retaining similar ones filled by foreign guest
workers?  If so, how many?

*  How many H-1B or other work visa program workers will Microsoft be
retaining when the planned layoff is completed?



My point is that during a layoff, companies should not be retaining H-1B or
other work visa program employees over qualified American workers.  Our
immigration policy is not intended to harm the American workforce.  I
encourage Microsoft to ensure that Americans are given priority in job
retention.  Microsoft has a moral obligation to protect these American
workers by putting them first during these difficult economic times.



Sincerely,

 

Charles E. Grassley

United States Senator

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0901/22/ldt.01.html

LOU DOBBS TONIGHT

New Team; Kennedy Shock; Ethics Question; Your Bailout at Work; Replacing
Americans

Aired January 22, 2009

DOBBS: Well John Thain's resignation could save Bank of America and
taxpayers millions of dollars, perhaps more given Mr. Thain's expensive
tastes. Get ready, because you may have thought this era went out with,
say, the early 2000's in the days of corporate corruption. Well, it turns
out corporate corruption has more than one look.

For example, John Thain spent more than $1.2 million last year to do what?
Why, of course, to decorate his office at Merrill Lynch. Thain hired
high-profile designer Michael Smith for the job. Among the items purchased
for John Thain's office, an $87,000 area rug, $68,000 for a 19th century
credenza and $35,000 for a commode on four legs.

Designer Smith, by the way, is off to the White House. He was selected by
the new first family to redesign the private family quarters. And of
course, the government's finances aren't in much better shape than were
Merrill Lynch's.

New outrage tonight over Microsoft's hiring and firing policies and its
bias articulated so well by its founder Bill Gates in favor of foreign
workers at the expense of Americans -- Microsoft today announcing its
cutting 5,000 jobs. Just less than a year ago, Microsoft's Bill Gates told
Congress there weren't enough qualified American engineers. And that it
needed even more cheap foreign labor. Lisa Sylvester has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A fog hovered over the
Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, as anxious employees worried about
their fate. The company is giving 5,000 employees pink slips, 1,400 losing
their jobs immediately, many of them among the U.S. work force.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm thrilled to be here. I'm hoping I'll still be here
at the end of the day.

SYLVESTER: Job eliminations and R&D, marketing, sales, finance, legal, HR
and IT. In a letter obtained by CNN, CEO Steve Ballmer told Microsoft's
employees quote, "we believe these job eliminations are crucial to our
ability to adjust the company's cost structure, so that we have the
resources to drive future profitable growth"

Far cry from 10 months ago, Microsoft's Chairman Bill Gates told Congress
repeatedly that he couldn't find enough qualified American workers. Again
and again, Gates urged lawmakers to expand the number of foreign workers
allowed in through the country's H-1B visa program.

BILL GATES, MICROSOFT CHAIRMAN: U.S. companies face a severe shortfall of
scientists and engineers with expertise to develop the next generation of
breakthroughs. You know we're expanding our employment in the United States
at a very rapid rate. The only limit on that is this supply of engineers.
We've been increasing our employment in the United States. And a limiting
factor for us is how many of these great engineers that we can get here.
And yes, that does cause a problem.

SYLVESTER: Senator Charles Grassley worries U.S. corporations are using the
H-1B visa program to hire foreign and imported workers over Americans and
paying them lower salaries. A study by the Center for Immigration Studies
which wants stricter immigration policies found that 90 percent of the H1-B
employers were paying computer programmers below the median U.S. wage for
the occupation. Senator Grassley is now writing a letter to Gates demanding
that as Microsoft scales back its labor force, the pain is not borne
entirely by American workers.

SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: In this case there's layoffs of what,
5,000 workers I believe. I want to know if they're laying off H-1B workers
and what's incongruous about saying 18 months ago you needed more H-1B's
and now you're laying off workers.

SYLVESTER: CNN contacted Microsoft to comment on the H-1B issue and
Grassley's concerns, but a spokesperson said the company has no comment.
For U.S. IT workers already facing global competition, the Microsoft
announcement is more bad news says Wash Tech, a union for high tech
workers.

PRIYANKA JOSHI, WASH TECH: This is going to be a -- an extremely -- it's
going to be an excruciating time for an IT employee who has a family to
support for him to find another job, a job that pays well, a job that has
benefits.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER: Now this might be just the beginning of Microsoft's layoffs, not
the end. The biggest concern financial analysts had on a morning conference
call with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was whether Microsoft was cutting
enough jobs. Lou?

DOBBS: Yeah and I should reiterate that I've invited both Bill Gates, Steve
Ballmer to join us on here on this broadcast to discuss this issue of
hiring foreign workers and talking about the alleged shortage of American
computer engineers and systems engineers and programmers. They have yet to
respond or to accept that invitation, which remains I assure you vigorously
wide open. Lisa, thank you very much. Lisa Sylvester.



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