Thread: Tight US immigration forces outsourcing: Bill Gates

Tight US immigration forces outsourcing: Bill Gates
Mar 12 10:34 AM US/Eastern

US high-tech companies are being forced to outsource more jobs overseas because of outdated restrictions on immigration, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates told Congress Wednesday.

Gates, echoing a longstanding complaint from the technology sector, told a congressional panel that the US immigration system "makes attracting and retaining high-skilled immigrants exceptionally challenging for US firms."

"Congress's failure to pass high-skilled immigration reform has exacerbated an already grave situation," Gates said in remarks prepared for delivery to a hearing of the House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee.

"As a result, many US firms, including Microsoft, have been forced to locate staff in countries that welcome skilled foreign workers to do work that could otherwise have been done in the United States, if it were not for our counterproductive immigration policies."

Gates said the limits on so-called H-1B visas aimed at highly skilled professionals are far too low for the rapidly growing tech sector.

He said the current cap of 65,000 H-1B visas "is arbitrarily set and bears no relation to the US economy's demand for skilled professionals."

The Microsoft founder noted that all the 65,000 visas for the current fiscal year were snapped up in one day last April and that employers are now waiting to apply for visas for fiscal 2009, starting in October.

"Last year, for example, Microsoft was unable to obtain H-1B visas for one-third of the highly qualified foreign-born job candidates that we wanted to hire," Gates said.

"If we increase the number of H-1B visas that are available to US companies, employment of US nationals would likely grow as well. For instance, Microsoft has found that for every H-1B hire we make, we add on average four additional employees to support them in various capacities."

Gates also said the United States needs to improve science and math education to train a new generation of tech leaders, reversing a move away from these fields.

"If we don't reverse these trends, our competitive advantage will continue to erode. Our ability to create new high-paying jobs will suffer," Gates said.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id ... _article=1

Originally Posted by AirborneSapper7

"If we don't reverse these trends, our competitive advantage will continue to erode. Our ability to create new high-paying jobs will suffer," Gates said.

In other words if he cannot hire cheap foreign labor we cannot create high paying jobs? What kind of double talk is that? Well Gates your propaganda is as bad as your software.

Is There Really an IT Labor Shortage?
By Ericka Chickowski
2008-03-05

( Page 1 of 5 )

Despite what you've been told about the IT skills shortage, there's a multitude of evidence that suggests that line of reasoning is a self-serving myth. Baseline cuts in to the belly of the IT shortage debate.

Over the last several years a number of IT industry executives and analysts have consistently promoted the idea that there exists an ever-present shortage of skilled IT workers in the market to fill the industry’s demand. High-profile executives such as Bill Gates of Microsoft and Craig Barrett of Intel have weighed in on their opinions about this shortage of good help in the server room and at the keyboard.

Most recently the theory of a growing shortage was bolstered by a December 2007 Gartner report entitled “The Quest for Talent – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.â€

PISS ON GATES!!!
Tell him to move to India...Now!!!!

Originally Posted by Bowman

Originally Posted by AirborneSapper7

"If we don't reverse these trends, our competitive advantage will continue to erode. Our ability to create new high-paying jobs will suffer," Gates said.

In other words if he cannot hire cheap foreign labor we cannot create high paying jobs? What kind of double talk is that? Well Gates your propaganda is as bad as your software.

The globalist philosophy is that the revenue earned from exporting jobs to cheap markets is reinvested into the United States, creating high value jobs, while shedding less valuable jobs.

The reality: The displaced workers, wether highly skilled or blue collar, find jobs that pay significantly less than the outsourced jobs, and wage depression is felt throughout the industry competing with cheap third world markets.

You are correct in your logic. The whole point of offshoring to to depress American wages. They do not want high paying jobs here. If they did, they would not outsource.