Stop Offshoring
Sunday, July 22, 2007
There's a debate in BusinessWeek regarding H-1B visas called "Beware the H-1B Visa". Of course, I landed on the side that believed H-1B usage should be curbed. Some quotes from the argument:
- The H-1B program has been corrupted by a large and growing share of firms that use it for cheap labor and to facilitate the outsourcing of jobs.
- The H-1B visa is so critical to the offshore outsourcing industry that India’s Commerce Minister has dubbed it the "outsourcing visa." Seven of the top 10 H-1B employers are offshore outsourcing firms, none of whom hire many Americans
- Rather than preventing it, the program speeds up the outsourcing of high-wage high-technology jobs.
- A sizable share of the U.S. high-tech workforce understands this logic, and justifiably views the H-1B program as a threat and a scam.
- the government uses immigration policy to work against technology professionals.
The author correctly describes the H-1B visa as what it is, a corrupt tool by greedy corporations to pad their bottom line at the expense of American workers.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
A report by management consultancy AT Kearney states: "Most businesses that ship information technology work offshore are still not getting the results they want and more than a third fail to achieve budgeted savings." 60 percent of companies that offshore part of their operations have fallen short of performance expectations. Part of the problem may be rising wages, prompting some companies to bring jobs back onshore. I hope the "reverse offshoring" trend continues as more and more people discover that offshoring isn't the solution they're looking for.
