How tech companies abuse visas to hire cheap foreign labor, offshore jobs

The H-1B visa program lets high-tech companies like Microsoft bring foreign workers to America and pay them less than they'd pay qualified U.S. citizens.

Defenders of the program say it recruits the best and brightest from overseas, allowing U.S. firms to develop innovative technology.

That's baloney.

Foreign students in computer science now working in the U.S. are on average less talented than Americans, according to a study released in February by the Economic Policy Insttitute. But they are cheaper.

The EPI study concluded:

...employers prefer to hire foreign workers over similarly qualified U.S. workers, because legal loopholes in how the “prevailing wage” is calculated let them save on labor costs. The H-1B visa also ties workers to their employer, effectively rendering them captive for the duration of their visa. 

What's worse, U.S. employers don't even have to try to hire qualified Americans for high-tech jobs before hiring someone from overseas.

And there's something even more sinister at work:  the H-1B worker learns the job and then rotates back to the home country and takes the work with him, another EPI report found. The top 10 companies using H-1B visas ALL have major operations overseas.

Last week, Indian technology company Infosys paid a $34 million settlement to the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged H-1B visa fraud, according to ABC News. Prosecutors say Infosys,

...unlawfully used H-1B visa holders to fill skilled labor jobs that the Justice Department says would "otherwise be performed by U.S. citizens or require legitimate H-1B visa holders."  

Here are the top 10 recipients of H-1B visas in the US:

1. Cognizant. H1-B Visas Received: 17,964
2. Tata Consultancy. H1-B Visas Received: 9,083
3. Wipro. H1-B Visas Received: 8,726
4. Infosys. H1-B Visas Received: 6,550
5. Accenture. H1-B Visas Received: 5,799
6. Microsoft. H1-B Visas Received: 4,766
7. IBM. H1-B Visas Received: 3,770
8. Larsen & Toubro. H1-B Visas Received: 3,286
9. HCL. H1-B Visas Received: 3,074
10. Deloitte. H1-B Visas Received: 2,850

Only three of them -- Microsoft, IBM and Deloitte -- are headquartered in the U.S.

Yeah, we're pretty steamed about it too.

Today's Teamster News 08.21.12

Judge throws out Palmer suit against Infosys  Computerworld   ...In his lawsuit, Palmer claimed he was harassed at work, sidelined and even received death threats for refusing to participate in an alleged Infosys scheme to use workers on business visitor, or B-1 visas, for tasks that required an H-1B work visa...
U.S. troops' kids early victims of Congress budget inaction  Reuters   ...The stressed school systems are one more instance of a country struggling to keep up with the needs of military families, worn down by a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan...
Romney Gains Huge Cash Advantage Over Obama  New York Times   ...Mr. Obama and the Democrats raised a combined $75 million during July, according to Federal Election Commission reports filed Monday, compared with $101 million for Mr. Romney and the Republicans. The Democrats had about $124 million in cash on hand, most of it in Mr. Obama’s campaign account, while the Republicans had $186 million...
Megadonors taint Florida politics, appointments  Orlando Sentinel   ...just Friday, we heard from a longtime GOP donor who said he was denied a seat on Orlando's airport board — simply because he wouldn't cough up $10,000. Florida is so flush with special-interest cash that our state is drowning in it...
Why Are Our Public Schools Up For Sale?  Alternet   ...While charter proponents claim that their schools are less bureaucratic, more efficient, and more effective, the evidence fails to back those claims...
Hammond begins contract negotiations  NWI Times   ...Contracts with the Hammond Police and Fire departments' unions and the Teamsters, who represent most of the city's public works employees, expire at the end of the year...