[SeaLand fires it programming staff, replaces them with H-1B workers, then wonders why no one will work for them?]

http://www.computerworld.com/home/features.nsf/all/980311careers

ComputerWorld 3-9-98

Border War

To H-1B or not to H-1B? That is the question facing Congress this month as a bill is introduced to raise visa quotas for foreign computer professionals.

By Alice LaPlante

(IT Careers, March 9, 1998) Kevin Dempsey's problem is a familiar one.
As director of applications development at Sealand Services, Inc. in Elizabeth, N.J., Dempsey desperately needs skilled information technology workers. He needed them yesterday. He'll need them tomorrow.

Client/server, Java, year 2000 — you name the technology, Dempsey's looking for experienced analysts and programmers. And like just about every other IT manager, he's having trouble snaring them. Rajiv Shukla, a foreign national from India skilled in IT, has had no trouble finding companies to sponsor his H1-B visas — or moving on to greener pastures.



Dempsey relies on all the traditional recruitment methods to find skilled information systems talent. But he also depends on non-U.S. citizens to fill the gaps in his staff. We're not talking cheap foreign labor here.

This is a temporary — and expensive — solution, Dempsey emphasizes.

Immigration law allows foreign nationals without so-called green cards (actually no longer green) to work here for six years at the most. The legal paperwork for acquiring appropriate work visas takes time and money. And would-be employers need to comply with strict minimum salary guidelines (see box at right). Thus H-1B employees — called that because of the type of visa they require — aren't a large percentage of Dempsey's workforce.

Nevertheless, they are a source of desperately needed skilled IT labor. A bill was introduced last week to increase the quota of H1-B visas from 65,000 to 90,000 annually.

Employers such as Dempsey would be in trouble without that labor source. "I need to staff up any way I can," he says.

Dempsey isn't alone. Qualified foreign nationals such as Rajiv Shukla have no trouble finding companies to sponsor their initial H1-B visas — or moving on if they see greener pastures.

Shukla came to the U.S. from India to earn a master's degree in computer science from the State University of New York in Albany.

As is traditional, upon graduation, he was allowed to work for a year in the U.S. on an extension of his student visa. He says he had no trouble getting a small West Coast software company to sponsor his H1-B visa.

An H-1B primer
An H-1B visa allows a foreign citizen to work in the U.S. for up to six years if the following requirements are met:


The H-1B application must be filed by a business sponsor (a verifiable employer). Individuals can't obtain H-1B visas on their own.

The position must be a professional one that requires specialized training.

The candidate must have at least a bachelor's degree in the appropriate field or equivalent training and experience.

Employers must file a labor condition application, which shows they are paying the H-1B employee either the "prevailing wage" (industry average) or "actual wage" (what other employees in the company are paid) for the position, whichever is higher.

Employers must provide proof that they have notified other employees of the intention to employ an H-1B worker, that there isn't a current strike or worker lockout and that the working conditions of U.S. employees won't be adversely affected. In other words, H-1B workers can't replace employees who are U.S. citizens.

An H-1B isn't transferable to other foreign national employees or by a foreign national to other employers. If an H-1B employee wants to take a job at another company, he must apply for a new visa.
Heavily courted by recruiters and other technical employers, Shukla eventually accepted a more challenging position at Morristown, N.J.-based Bellcore, Inc. The company was so eager to snap up Shukla's services that it paid all the fees and processed all the legal paperwork involved in his reapplication for a visa.

After two years at Bellcore, Shukla decided he was ready for greater intellectual and professional challenges. Again, he had no trouble finding an employer — in this case, GTE Laboratories, Inc. in Waltham, Mass.

Eventually, Shukla must decide if he wants to apply for a green card.

He says he's less worried about finding a sponsor — experience has shown that he's a valuable commodity in today's market — than whether staying in the U.S. is the right decision for him and his family.

Everyone agrees there's a shortage of skilled IT professionals, even if estimates of the shortage vary. What's at issue is whether immigration is an appropriate solution.

People such as Dempsey and Netland say they should be able to hire as many qualified foreign nationals who conform to U.S. immigration laws as they need.

Others, including the Clinton administration and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)-USA, argue that such an attitude deprives U.S. citizens of jobs.

Businesses should improve training and educational efforts, not use immigration, to solve the technology labor crisis, they say.

Although Congress in 1990 established a 65,000 limit to the number of H-1B visas issued annually — many of which include family members coming to the U.S. — it wasn't until last year that the limit became an issue.

Last September, one month before the end of the federal government's 1997 fiscal year, the cap was reached. Processing of all H-1B visa applications was placed on hold for about a month.

That was "a fairly minor delay," concedes Harris Miller, president of the Information Industry Association of America. But it signaled trouble ahead.


TIGHT CAP
"Without increasing the H-1B visa quota... once you count the applications backlog from 1997 and our continued rapid economic growth, we believe we could hit the cap as early as May or June this year," Miller says.

That could have a dramatic impact on U.S. business, says Harry J. Joe, head of the immigration practice of law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist in Dallas.

He processes about 2,500 H-1B visas annually for clients such as CompuWare and Atlantic Richfield, which import experienced workers to fill technology positions that would otherwise be empty.

But others argue that more aggressive training and education efforts can bridge the IT labor shortage.

In February, the Clinton administration announced a $28 million plan to do just that. And groups such as the IEEE point to the number of U.S. workers displaced every year — about 360,000 —who could be retrained for entry-level technology jobs, says Shankar Lakhavani, chairman of the IEEE-USA Workforce Committee.

"Making sweeping legislative changes to immigration law would be jumping the gun," Lakhavani says.

There are other issues, as well. "Our clients aren't just looking for bodies to fill seats. They're looking for talent and demonstrable experience," says Vincent Webb, vice president of marketing at Management Recruiters International, a leading IT search firm in Cleveland.

Finding qualified candidates, assessing their technical knowledge and ascertaining "softer" skills such as language proficiency — all from a different continent — presents a challenge, Webb says.


Dempsey's biggest challenge — surprise, surprise — has been retaining his H-1B employees. Like U.S. citizens, they're likely to be snatched away by other firms.

"Once they get here, it's fairly easy for them to switch employers," Dempsey says.