Thread: Bill Gates pushing immigration agenda at colleges

From the latest Job Destruction Newsletter by Rob Sanchez.


<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1825 -- 2/28/2008 >>>>>

Bill Gates is doing a speaking tour of college campuses in order to get
naive students interested in Computer/IT careers, and to push his
immigration agenda. As part of that tour he went to the University of
Waterloo in Canada where he gave a speech to an audience of high school and
college students.

The university has a web page where you can find out more about the Bill
Gates visit. They even have a video of the entire presentation.

http://communications.uwaterloo.ca/events/billgates/

I made a short 2 minute clip of the video (at about 52 minutes into the 1
hour presentation) where he criticized the H-1B program because he thinks
it's too restrictive. He praised Canada for its loose immigration policies
that make it easy for foreigners to get work visas. Bill Gates said that
there must be a "free flow of talent" between the U.S. and Canada but never
mentioned how that large labor pool enriches his portfolio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB2OhaGLIp8

The articles below have a few comments by Gates that are worth mentioning.
This explains why it's so difficult for anyone over the age of 35 to find
jobs at Microsoft:

"Why do young people play such an important role in innovation,
even though older people have greater breadth of knowledge and
a deeper understanding of their field? [snipped]
It's not unusual to have the best solution to a tough problem
come from one of the youngest people working to solve it.
Often, our first reaction is that what they are suggesting is
crazy, until we understand that they have come at the problem
in a creative, new way.


Lots of brouhaha was published in the media when Microsoft set up a
development center in Vancouver, Canada. Bill Gates said that the Canadian
office was necessary because it was so difficult and expensive to import
H-1Bs into the U.S. Gates praised Canada because: "The Canadian government
makes it easier to bring in smart people from various countries".

You might wonder where all the smart people are coming from to work in
Vancouver. Buried in the Financial Post article below the truth is
revealed. The smart people Gates adores so much are coming from China,
although Gates also mentioned "other countries", which probably means
India. I doubt that Gates includes Canadians on his list of smart people
anymore than he includes Americans.

He said Microsoft has looked to other countries such as China to
help fill "a pretty significant shortage" of IT workers and has
set up development centres, including one in Vancouver, to
develop new talent.

The following statement by Gates needs some discussion because there is far
more to it than meets the eye:

"There should be a free-flow of talent from the U.S. to Canada and
Canada to the U.S. There's bright person who wants a job - it
shouldn't be hard to go across the border and do that. We should
make it as seamless as possible."


Gates is only telling half the truth, because it is very easy for Canadians
to cross the border to work in the U.S. Microsoft or any other employer can
obtain TN (Trade NAFTA) visas for anyone that they need to transfer between
the Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. TN visas are unlimited and quick and easy
to obtain, so Microsoft should have no problem moving as many people as
they want to the U.S.

So what is Bill Gates complaining about?

Moving Canadians into the U.S. isn't an issue for Gates, but moving
foreigners who work in Canada is. In order to get a TN visa Microsoft's
Chinese and Indian employees must become naturalized citizens of Canada,
otherwise they have to get H-1B visas which are in short supply. Getting
naturalized in Canada isn't a big deal for those who have jobs but Bill
Gates probably doesn't want to use Vancouver as a drop house for
non-Canadians any longer than he has too.

I have contended since the opening of that Vancouver office that Gates
intended to use it as a backdoor to get foreign workers into the U.S.
Apparently he is having some trouble getting as many TN visas as he would
like, so now he is on another lobbying campaign to increase the H-1B cap.


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

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... _ontario_0
80221/20080221?hub=SciTech

Microsoft looks for talent in developing countries

Microsoft founder Bill Gates speaks to university and high school students
during a stop in Waterloo, Ont. on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008. (Adrian Wyld
/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The Canadian Press

Updated: Thu. Feb. 21 2008 5:32 PM ET

WATERLOO, Ont. -- A widespread shortage of information technology graduates
across North America is forcing Microsoft Corp. and other software
companies to look to developing countries such as China to meet their
needs, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates says.

"When we want to hire lots of software engineers there is a shortage in
North America - a pretty significant shortage," Gates said Thursday in an
interview.

"We have this tough problem: If you can't get the engineers, then you have
to have those other jobs be (relocated to) where the engineers are."

Gates was at the University of Waterloo, which has historically been a
favourite hiring ground for Microsoft, on Thursday to deliver a speech to
students about the state of developing technology.

But Gates also told the students that IT jobs are in high demand.

"It's partly that the enrolment in the field is going down," he said
afterwards.

Enrolment in the computer sciences program at the University of Waterloo
tumbled 5.1 per cent last year compared to 2006. Overall, the school saw
408 freshmen students join the program from 430 a year earlier.

University representatives said the enrolment numbers still are higher than
similar programs at other North American universities.

The shortage of talent "is one of the reasons why we opened an office in
Vancouver," Gates said.

Microsoft has a strategy of tapping into a global market for technical
talent by setting up development centres in multiple locations.

The Vancouver location, about 200 kilometres north of Microsoft's
headquarters in Redmond, Wash., has the advantage of being close to the
company's main development area, but outside the United States.

"The Canadian government makes it easier to bring in smart people from
various countries and create a group that's both Canadians, Asians,
Europeans working together on software," Gates said.

Industry watchers have pegged the period after the 2000-2002 technology
downturn as the time when students began to move away from
computer-oriented jobs in fear that the sector would be bogged down with
layoffs.

But the opposite happened, said Amy Parlous, executive director of the
mathematics department at University of Waterloo.

"IT is just so pervasive in every sector now it's certainly not in one
pocket. It's in public policy, it's in education, it's in health - it's
everywhere, so there are more jobs," Parlous said.

Turning that trend around appears to be the greatest problem, especially
since statistics suggest the country the hole left by retiring tech workers
is only speeding up the shortage.

A recent report by the Conference Board of Canada suggested that the
country will need 90,000 IT workers within the next five years, in part to
fuel the explosion in wireless and Internet businesses.

Each position that isn't filled will cost the economy an estimated $120,000
per year.

Gates suggested that teenagers could gain interest in programing jobs by
incorporating technology into their own lives.

"If you wanted people to go into a job area you could make sexy products
like IPods and Xboxes," he said.

"We've done those tactics and they seem to be working in China and India."

During his speech Gates showed his lighter side by screening a
documentary-style short film in which he pokes fun at his retirement
alongside celebrities like rapper Jay-Z and U2's Bono.

He also fielded questions from students and recalled when he went to
university in "the Dark Ages" and learned about computers on his own time.

"Fortunately for all of you, you're in a generation where all of these
courses are going to be online and basically free. I'm taking solid state
physics from MIT, though MIT doesn't know it," he said.

"You are far more empowered in terms of your ongoing education than any
other generation has ever been."

Gates also criticized the United States government for its strict adherence
to the H-1B visa, which allows American companies to bring in skilled
workers from other countries temporarily, as long as they fall under a list
of "specialty occupations."

Gates called the visa the "worst disaster."

The rules are strict and only apply to highly specialized workers.

"If I could just change one law in the U.S. it would be this," he said.

"There should be a free-flow of talent from the U.S. to Canada and Canada
to the U.S. There's bright person who wants a job - it shouldn't be hard to
go across the border and do that. We should make it as seamless as
possible."

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

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet ... dagates022
5/BNStory/robAgenda/home

What's right with young people today
BILL GATES

Globe and Mail Update

February 25, 2008 at 6:09 AM EST

One of the striking things about human progress is that so many of the
world's most important new ideas were the work of young people. From Isaac
Newton's discoveries as a 23-year-old that formed the basis for calculus,
to Charles Darwin, who surveyed the Galapagos Islands at age 26, and Albert
Einstein, who published his paper on relativity at age 26, young people
have been responsible for breakthroughs that form the foundation for much
of our understanding of how the world works.

Young people have played a central role in many other fields, including
business and technology. Paul Allen and I were in high school when we
started thinking about the personal computer, and I was 20 when we founded
Microsoft. Steve Jobs launched Apple at age 21. Sergey Brin and Larry Page
were graduate students at Stanford when they developed their first search
engine. Yahoo was launched by Stanford graduate students Jerry Yang and
David Filo.

Why do young people play such an important role in innovation, even though
older people have greater breadth of knowledge and a deeper understanding
of their field? My theory is that young people aren't as constrained by
traditional ways of thinking. They haven't yet completely absorbed the
"right" way to do things, so they are free to pursue ideas that seem
impossible to those of us with more experience.

I often see this at Microsoft. It's not unusual to have the best solution
to a tough problem come from one of the youngest people working to solve
it. Often, our first reaction is that what they are suggesting is crazy,
until we understand that they have come at the problem in a creative, new
way.

I saw this kind of innovative thinking when I visited the University of
Waterloo this past week and spent time with students there who are focused
on pushing the envelope in science, engineering, and other fields.

I am optimistic that college and high school students will continue to
produce groundbreaking ideas that will change people's lives for the better
in the years ahead. But I have some concerns.

In particular, I'm concerned that too few young people are acquiring the
knowledge they need to use technology in creative and innovative ways.
During the last decade, the number of college students who study math and
science in Canada and the United States has declined dramatically. Today,
there simply aren't enough people with the right skills to fill the growing
demand for computer scientists and computer engineers. This is a critical
problem because technology holds the key to progress, and to addressing
many of the world's most pressing problems, including health care,
education, global inequality, and climate change.

We can all help address this issue. As parents, we must help our children
appreciate the joys of learning and discovery. Teachers and educators must
find ways to teach science and math so it is relevant and exciting. We look
to government to help improve educational excellence in our schools and
ensure that all high school graduates have solid math and science skills.

Companies like Microsoft must contribute, too, by working with schools to
foster interest in science and mathematics and provide training that is
relevant to the needs of business. That's why we recently launched a new
program called Microsoft DreamSpark. Through DreamSpark, we are providing
professional software development and design tools to university students
around the world as a download at no cost.

Our goal is to help students expand their skills and knowledge, and,
hopefully, to inspire them to find new ways to turn their great ideas into
businesses that create real opportunities and solutions that address
real-world problems.

Although the world has changed dramatically during the last 30 years, I
believe we are only at the very beginning of what is possible. If we do our
jobs as adults, and equip young people with the knowledge and skills they
need to turn their great ideas into breakthrough innovations, I believe
they will find solutions for many of the difficult problems our world faces
today. Their future - and ours - depends on it.

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

http://www.financialpost.com/small_busi ... y.html?id=
326083

Friday, February 22, 2008

'Pretty significant shortage' of IT workers alarms Gates
Touts opportunity to work on 'sexy products'

Jordana Huber, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, February 22, 2008


WATERLOO, Ont. - People who choose careers in information technology have
the opportunity to work on "sexy products," Microsoft Corp. founder Bill
Gates said yesteday at the University of Waterloo, where he gave a speech
about how technology and innovation will benefit the world in the "second
digital decade."

Mr. Gates, who plans to step down this summer from day-to-day operations at
the software giant to focus on his charitable foundation, said while
enrolment rates in math and sciences are facing "scary trends," the jobs
that stem from those fields are some of the most exciting to work in.

"These are fun jobs," Mr. Gates said on his second-to-last stop of a
five-campus tour of North American universities.

"They are not jobs where you are just in a cubby hole throughout your whole
life. They are about changing the world."

He said Microsoft has looked to other countries such as China to help fill
"a pretty significant shortage" of IT workers and has set up development
centres, including one in Vancouver, to develop new talent.

Though Microsoft's headquarters is less than two hours away from Vancouver
in Redmond, Wash., Mr. Gates said it was much easier to bring "smart
people" to Canada because of visa restrictions south of the border.

A report released this year by the Conference Board of Canada blamed
Canada's looming shortage of technology workers on a "perfect storm" of
sociodemographic factors, negative perceptions about the dot-com bubble
burst of 2002 and weakened university enrolment of IT grads.

The report said 90,000 more tech workers will be needed in Canada in the
next five years. Jobs that go unfilled could cost the economy more than
$10-billion.

During his 45-minute talk, Mr. Gates focused on what the next decades will
bring in technological innovation, painting a world where computers, phones
and televisions are seamlessly integrated. But he also encouraged students,
whatever their field, to spend some of their time focusing on how to help
the world's poor, noting their problems are often "more important" to
solve.

Mr. Gates said until recently, more money was spent on researching baldness
than malaria.

"People who have no money essentially have no voice," he said. "They have
no input into what the market does. It is only through some combination of
enlightened value systems that those problems will get solved."

Not surprising given that Microsoft is currently experiencing innovation and technology stagnation at the moment...probably a result of all the "foreign talent" he has so adamantly solicited!!!

The $1.3 billion USD fine by the EU courts should be mentioned with respect to the current thread here too.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/27/ ... s/msft.php

Originally Posted by PhredE

The $1.3 billion USD fine by the EU courts should be mentioned with respect to the current thread here too.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/27/ ... s/msft.php

Interesting article...thanks PhredE! I wonder if losing 1.3 billion has anything to do with soliciting cheap labor???

Bill Gates should be considered an enemy of the state!