I don’t get it. Outsourcing is a really bad word here in North America. Politicians are heavily involved in this matter, particularly in the USA. And I have seen a couple of people whose job has been outsourced and how it hits them so badly especially being told that their job is being done by someone else for half the pay.
But then you come across this news,
The rush by companies, particularly of the high-tech persuasion, to apply for H-1B visas for next year has officially come to an end–only one day after it began.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Tuesday that it had received 150,000 applications as of Monday afternoon for the controversial work permits, which allow foreigners with a bachelor’s degree in their area of specialty to be employed in the United States for up to six years.
That’s more than enough applications to meet the cap for the fiscal year 2008 crop of visas, which is currently 65,000, so USCIS said it would be accepting no more petitions.
So, 65, 000 jobs in the US were filled at the snap of the finger. 150,000 jobs requests were applied for by the US industry. My question is, why the big hullabaloo? If 150,000 jobs are requested by the US industry, why cannot they be filled by employees currently in the US? Don’t the politicians know this? Of course they do. My theory is that this is a very easy bird to skin. A person who has lost a job here in North America can easily be pushed and prodded into giving up his/her vote as long as they hear the right words by the current opposition weasel. Do these downsized people get jobs? No. Not everyone does. But the way politicians cry and moan about “lost opportunities” to another nation, it seems like the streets of every North American city is filled with unemployed white collar workers.
Desi In Toronto 