http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB962928359548877667.htm


Wall Street Journal


July 7, 2000


Tech Center


Coalition of Black Professionals Frets
Over an Influx of Skilled Foreigners


Congress Faces Lobby Effort to Block Measures
Aimed at Nearly Doubling Special High-Tech Visas


By MARJORIE VALBRUN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL


Black engineers, scientists and computer specialists are opening a new
front in the battle over skilled foreign workers.


The black professionals charge that politicians of both parties are
scrambling to satisfy high-tech industry demands for more skilled
foreigners, while minority Americans are being excluded from
well-paying, mid- and high-level technical and scientific jobs.


"There are already far more qualified Americans to
fill existing high-tech jobs than we need, many of
them African-American and other minorities," the
Coalition for Fair Employment in Silicon Valley, a
group claiming to represent thousands of minority
professionals, said in a recent full-page
advertisement in Roll Call, a Washington, D.C.,
newspaper closely read on Capitol Hill.


The group, made up of black engineers, physicists and others, is
lobbying against pending bills that would raise the annual limit on
so-called H-1B visas, under which high-tech workers from India, China
and elsewhere are streaming into the U.S. Democrats and Republicans have
proposed competing bills that would nearly double the current annual
limit of 115,000 H-1B visas.


Low U.S. Recruitment


But the coalition contends that the visa program takes jobs from
Americans and reduces overall pay levels by allowing employers to hire
foreigners willing to work for lower wages. Moreover, it says, high-tech
companies and government-funded research labs rarely recruit potential
employees at conferences and conventions of black professional
organizations, or at historically black colleges.


"It's disturbing to me when I see the universities and corporations
manipulating the immigration laws in order to facilitate the importation
of low-cost foreign tech workers and not expend the same resources to
develop scientific talent in the African-American and Hispanic
communities," says Keith Jackson, one of two black physicists at the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, an arm of the Energy Department
in Berkeley, Calif.


The black coalition isn't likely to derail the H-1B legislation
altogether. But the group's lobbying -- along with that of other
groups, including the National Urban League -- has increased the chances
that any boost in visas will come with tougher rules requiring high-tech
companies to recruit and train more American minorities.


The Urban League, a civil-rights organization based in New York, called on
Congress last week to hold off on expanding the H-1B program until the
National Academy of Science completes a study of the employment needs of
the high-tech and information-technology sectors.


Complaints From Engineers


Minority groups aren't the only ones complaining about H-1B workers. The
U.S. chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
says many of its older members can't find work, either. That's led the
group to join the Immigration Reform Coalition, a group of American
workers who hope to restrict the number of temporary skilled-worker
visas issued each year.


Industry officials respond that they are eager to hire Americans, but
that the supply of Americans with scientific or technical degrees isn't
large enough to fill all the job vacancies and the number of minorities
with such skills remains relatively small.


But the coalition points to a number of federal studies which seem to
back its claim. Last year, the coalition took its allegations about
Silicon Valley to the Labor Department, which intensified a review it
had been conducting of high-tech companies' hiring practices. Out of 85
companies the agency has looked at since 1997, it found that 13
discriminated against minorities or women and another 24 lacked
minority-recruitment plans required because they are federal
contractors.


In one case, Diamond Multi-Media Systems Inc., San Jose, Calif., was
ordered to pay a total of $213,200 in back pay and other civil remedies
for improperly denying low-level technical jobs to five Hispanic
applicants, whom the Labor Department concluded were qualified for the
positions. Paul Crossley, a spokesman for S3 Inc., a digital media
company in Santa Clara, Calif., that bought Diamond last fall, says,
"Any problem that existed has been solved as we integrated Diamond into
our company's culture, which is greatly diversified and integrated."


Separately, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is also
examining labor practices in Silicon Valley. "There's been a lot of
discussion about this issue and the concern that there is discrimination
and not full usage of minority, female and older workers," says Paul
Igasaki, vice chairman of the commission.


Many industry officials dismiss criticism of their hiring practices as
unfounded. With 800,000 job vacancies right now, "we can't afford to
leave a stone unturned," when recruiting, says Jeff Lande, vice
president for the Information Technology Association of America.
"Companies are spending tremendous amounts on retraining and outreach to
all of these communities -- in inner cities and at historically black
colleges," he says.


Others, however, acknowledge that something is amiss. "I don't doubt on the
demographics that it probably doesn't look good," says Ed Black, chief
executive of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which
represents companies such as Sun Microsystems Inc., Intuit Inc. and Oracle
Corp.


Still, Mr. Black says, "the aggregate of job openings really does exceed the
applicants who have high qualifications."


Indeed, the U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics has projected that over the
decade ending in 2008, the country will need nearly 1.7 million
additional computer engineers, programmers and analysts. That need is
growing even as the number of American college graduates with high-tech
degrees is falling, according to the American Electronics Association.
The group estimates that 207,056 high-tech degrees were awarded in 1997,
down 2% since 1990. Although the number of minorities with degrees in
engineering, math and computer science has grown in the past decade, the
totals remain relatively small.


Congressional Black Caucus


That's a major reason why limits on H-1B visas will likely be raised.
But the coalition and its allies, including the Congressional Black
Caucus, are seeking adjustments to the pending legislation that would
boost employment among minorities. "I don't have anything against
immigration," says Rep. Jim Clyburn (D., S.C.), chairman of the caucus.
"But if there is an immigration policy that has an effect of blocking
out or locking out native workers, then I have a problem with it."


The White House is listening. President Clinton's senior economic
adviser, Gene Sperling, stresses that administration support for an H-1B
increase is conditioned on inclusion of several provisions designed to
promote minority high-tech employment.


One of these measures would raise to $3,000, from $500, the per-visa
application fee paid by employers that depend heavily on H-1B workers.
Half of the money raised would be used for training programs for
American workers, with special emphasis on minorities, women and the
disabled. Another 30% of the money would fund computer, math and
engineering scholarships for low-income students.


"We have always believed the H-1B issue requires a balance between the
short-term needs of industry in a tight information-technology labor
market and the long-term need to ensure that our first efforts go into
giving American workers the first chance at such high-skilled, high-wage
jobs," Mr. Sperling says.


Write to Marjorie Valbrun at marjorie.valbrun@wsj.com1