[Note that American Management Systems claims a shortage in this
article. Contrast that with what AMS' John Otroba, who says this(Washington
Post, November 30, 1997):


...has no shortage of incoming re'sume's. When he logs onto his
office computer every day, he has at least 50 in his electronic
mailbox...But only about one in 12 re'sume's leads him to pick up
the telephone to call the job seeker. Some don't pass that
screening step. Of those who come in for an interview, fewer than a
quarter are offered jobs [making an overall rate hiring rate of
under 2%].
]

http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/990809BA6E

ComputerWorld 8/9/1999
letters@cw.com


GOP Eyes boost inForeign Workers

Congressional leaders want H-1B visa cap raised to
200K to ease ITlabor shortage


By Patrick Thibodeau and Stewart Deck
08/09/99 Washington


Citing a desperate need for more high-tech workers,
Republican Party congressional leaders are pushing for a
big hike in the H-1B visa cap.


Congress just raised the visa limit from 65,000 to 115,000
this year. But the cap was reached in May - six months
before the end of the fiscal year.


Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), a leading proponent for
raising the cap, said high-tech companies in his state won't
be able to grow without more skilled workers. Senate
Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) is also backing the
effort to raise the annual cap to 200,000. They're seeking
fast action on the proposal.


But the outlook for the cap increase isn't definite, with a
congressional debate certain to pit organized labor
supporters against companies in need of high-tech talent.


The H-1B visa is a tangled issue that cuts to the heart of
some controversial labor problems. Industry proponents
say the U.S. educational system isn't turning out enough
skilled workers, but labor groups argue that many in the
U.S. high-tech workforce don't get jobs because of their
age and their salaries, which are higher than foreign
workers receive.


Employers are eager to see the visa ceiling raised.


Fairfax, Va.-based American Management Systems Inc.
hires more than 800 people directly from colleges each
year to fill its IT consultant jobs. "Each year, we hire
enough people to start a new company," said Al Jones,
manager of college recruiting at AMS. "If [the H-1B cap]
isn't raised, it could make our job even tougher."


The visas let highly skilled professionals work in the U.S.
for up to six years at a specifically named company.


Organized labor takes a position against raising the limit of
H-1B visas for two reasons, said Marc Yelnick, an
immigration attorney in San Mateo, Calif. Silicon Valley is
predominantly nonunion, Yelnick said, and foreign-born
workers often aren't union joiners, making the group "a
large workforce constituency over which unions have no
control."


Underscoring that are questions about why this year's cap
was reached so quickly.


Land Rush


Sen. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) likened the demand for visas
to an "Oklahoma land rush." "It seems to me that
companies are filing a lot more [visa] petitions than they
need, because they don't want to get caught short,"
Lofgren said.


Lofgren has introduced a bill to create a new type of
technology visa. The T Visa would be set up for
international students who graduate from U.S. universities
with degrees in engineering and the sciences, and who
are hired by high-tech firms at salaries of $60,000 per year
or more. These stipulations were designed to satisfy
opponents who say H-1B is being used to fill positions with
inexpensive international laborers.


There are conflicting reasons for the upsurge in H-1B, said
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the Judiciary
Committee's subcommittee on immigration and claims.


Some argued that the demand has been caused by a
worsening shortage in high-tech workers, while others said
it's "merely reflective of a preference for foreign workers
and their perceived advantages over American workers,"
Smith said.


But Smith didn't rule out raising the cap. "We will debate
H-1B visas," Smith said at a hearing last week. "But we
cannot turn a blind eye to immigration policies that do not
serve the national interest."


Crystal Neiswonger, an immigration specialist at TRW Inc.
in Cleveland, said her company has more than 1,000 job
openings in technical areas. "Some of our business has
been placed on hold," she said. "The shortage of U.S.
specialty workers will continue for the foreseeable future."


Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) urged TRW and other
companies to do more to hire minority workers. "My
position is, we should try to meet each other halfway," she
said.


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