Uh-Oh....Sold Out!

[sophie]

According to the report on Lou Dobbs tonight, DHS has changed their policy on H1B visas. This was done after Bill Gates testified last month.

This new policy undercuts American graduates in high-tech jobs needing math and science degrees.

DHS has just extended H1B visas for the stays of foreign students. After graduating from an American university, they are now allowed to stay and work up to 2 1/2 years. This could be a permanent deal, depending on public comments, within the next 60 days.

Once permanent, there is an OPT clause (OPtional, Practical Training) where no wage provisions are set and there are no protections, and this includes U.S. students as well.

During his testimony, Gates also said all caps on the H1B visas should be lifted.

The day after Gates testified, two bills were introduced that would now double the H1B visa program. These bills were introduced by:

Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D) Arizona and

Congressman Lamar Smith (R) Texas

If you would like to send DHS your comments, the subject line must read:

DHS Docket No. USCIS-2007-0060

Their Email address is: REGS@DHS.gov

For those of you living in AZ and TX, I might also suggest you send a letter off to your congressman or representative.

I highly suggest you share this news, email adress and subject line with those who are disgusted that America is now being run by lobbyists and big corporations in search of cheaper labor.

[HisAlways]

:ohno It's like our own country is trying to undermine us all into poverty, and a 3rd world country status.

[Walker]

As someone who works in science, I can tell you, we don't have Americans applying for the jobs we have available. If I post a technician opening, I may get one or two resumes from Americans with a BS, but I will get 10-12 resumes from foreigners (usually asians) with PhD's or MD's. These are for entry level positions.

Here, I will generalize, but I have found it to be true in my lab. Most of my foreign techs will put in overtime in order to generate lots and lots of data and get themselves publications. In order for them to get good positions back home or here, they work their butts off. They come from a culture with stiff competition and are not afraid of hard work. They are here on weekends and evenings. They usually do not have much of a social life and treasure the opportunity to come to the US at an Ivy League institution to study and work. I have to beg them to take their vacation time.

I'm can't hire someone based on ethnicity. I hire based on experience and willingness to work. If I have two applicants and one has a PhD and the other a BS, who do you think I am going to hire if both are willing to work for the same wage?

[agga40s]

They are here on weekends and evenings. They usually do not have much of a social life

With all due respect, aren't you basically saying that you're looking for people that don't have balanced lives? That you prefer to hire people who live to work rather then work to live?

I understand that Americans have a much better lifestyle than those from most other countries, and that many Americans choose to squander their lives on frivolous (even dangerous) pursuits and unwholesome activities. But having that much focus on work is a red flag for an unbalanced life, IMO. Emotionally healthy people need time for family and worship, at the very least.

[twinkle]

:ohno It's like our own country is trying to undermine us all into poverty, and a 3rd world country status.

I think you nailed it. (Heard this was the goal many years ago, dumbing down America, and I've been watching it happen ever since.)

[Walker]

agga40s

All of my foreign or domestic candidates are temporary hires. They are appointed on two to three year terms, at the most, and their positions are dependent on the quality and quantity of their work. They know their positions are temporary and that they must generate data in order to renew their contracts or move on to a better position.

Many of the foreign PhD's and MD's come here for three to four years to pad their resume. It is seen as an extension of their schooling to come to the USA for a couple of years to do research and then go home and get a good job somewhere. Most are unmarried and tend to socialize within their ethnic group, few actually have family here in the US. It is not seen as an undue burden, much like a doctor completes their residency, to not have a social life for a couple of years while in the US completing their training.

I did not have much of a social life in grad school. My husband was finishing law school and I was working 60 hours a week to complete my project on time. We managed to get through it. His first year out of law school, we saw each other Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons, maybe 8 hours a week.

Like anything in life, there has to be a little sacrifice (sound familiar?) in order to get somewhere you want to be.

[RememberTheName]

I can't find work in Nashville. Plain and simple. Nobody wants me with the certification and experience I have. Unfortunately, I can't GET the experience I need if nobody will take a chance and hire me.

Even then, there's no way I'd work on weekends regularly. I DO have someone to come home to, I DO have a LIFE and other things I'd like to be doing. I work so I can live, I don't live so I can work.

[lisaann]

As someone who works in science, I can tell you, we don't have Americans applying for the jobs we have available. If I post a technician opening, I may get one or two resumes from Americans with a BS, but I will get 10-12 resumes from foreigners (usually asians) with PhD's or MD's. These are for entry level positions.

Here, I will generalize, but I have found it to be true in my lab. Most of my foreign techs will put in overtime in order to generate lots and lots of data and get themselves publications. In order for them to get good positions back home or here, they work their butts off. They come from a culture with stiff competition and are not afraid of hard work. They are here on weekends and evenings. They usually do not have much of a social life and treasure the opportunity to come to the US at an Ivy League institution to study and work. I have to beg them to take their vacation time.

I'm can't hire someone based on ethnicity. I hire based on experience and willingness to work. If I have two applicants and one has a PhD and the other a BS, who do you think I am going to hire if both are willing to work for the same wage?

I remember reading years ago that American kids were not taking math and science seriously and we would lose these jobs to foreigners if we don't step up to the plate. Sad to see it happen. I know at our local, rinky-dink hospital you are hard put to find an American doctor.

I think the bottom line is we are spoiled and used to getting without having to work for it. One day we are really going to regret this approach to life. :fear

[Walker]

lisaann

We are definitely behind in math and science, and it shows up in these areas.

The US is not graduating math and science majors in the numbers that other countries are. That is why foreign workers are hired, they have the education that is essential to these industries that want to use the H1B Visa recipients.

My father is an engineer. As the people in his age group move towards retirement age, the people replacing him are the majority foreign-born. The US is not graduating enough engineers to refill his generation, so what alternative is left? They can't hire people without the proper education to fill his position, that would be negligent. The safety of many people rely on his job being done properly.

Take China for an example. The Commnunists (while I don't agree with their overall philosophies) have said that China needs to move in to the future. In order to do this, they established huge numbers of technical schools and university programs to churn out chemists, computer scientists, engineers and biologists. Seventy-eight percent of these "technical workers" are sent abroad for advanced study. Most return home after their studies to apply their learning to advance China.

We in the US have become lazy and complacent. Our philosophy of "We're Number One" doesn't get us anywhere if we don't work to keep the spot. Fifty years ago, we had all the top notch science, but not anymore. Math and science education in this country has become secondary and is not deemed important or "too hard".

I don't know how often I hear that I must be so smart to do what I do. I'm no smarter than anyone else, I worked hard and enjoy a challenge. My grades in college were all A's for the required subjects (english, history, etc). When it came to math and science, the courses I enjoyed the most, I got B's and had to work hard to get them. I remember almost crying to my advisor that I had a C average in Organic Chemistry. He told me to stick it out and that a C was "normal" for OC. I stuck it out and aced the final bringing my grade up to a B.

Rememberthename

I can't speak for your field, I can only speak for what I see in science and why we are hiring foreign workers. Being a clinical research scientist is not a 40-hour a week job. I don't do 9-5. My husband is an attorney, and he certainly doesn't do 9-5 either. We work it out the best we can. We are young and don't have children, so we can afford to have this lifestyle for the time being. We may decide to alter our lifestyle in the future, but we are making the sacrifice now to be better off later on.

[Brick]

lisaannI don't know how often I hear that I must be so smart to do what I do. I'm no smarter than anyone else, I worked hard and enjoy a challenge. My grades in college were all A's for the required subjects (english, history, etc). When it came to math and science, the courses I enjoyed the most, I got B's and had to work hard to get them. I remember almost crying to my advisor that I had a C average in Organic Chemistry. He told me to stick it out and that a C was "normal" for OC. I stuck it out and aced the final bringing my grade up to a B.

I know that my limited college experience in college, especially in math and science classes had me taking classes from undergrads who where lucky if they could teach a hungry dog how to find his food dish. With stuff like that it was no wonder people were failing the class left and right. On the other hand I had History type classes which were usually rehashes and extrapolations of stuff I leard from time immormorial, but were taught by acutal Doctorate lvl teachers. In short I believe that the most complicated classes are taught by people who are either unqualifed in the subject mater or who have little or no teaching ability thus resulting in poorer student performance.