The Lies Told by US Companies Displacing US Workers with H1-Bs

Executive Summary

• Even when it is self-evident, companies displacing US workers with H1-Bs never admit to doing so.
• Here is a listing of ridiculous lies told by companies laying off US workers.

Introduction

The lies told by companies that are displacing US workers are covered in this article.

Lies From Disney

Instead, about 250 Disney employees were told in late October that they would be laid off. Many of their jobs were transferred to immigrants on temporary visas for highly skilled technical workers, who were brought in by an outsourcing firm based in India. Over the next three months, some Disney employees were required to train their replacements to do the jobs they had lost.

“The first 30 days was all capturing what I did,” said the American in his 40s, who worked 10 years at Disney. “The next 30 days, they worked side by side with me, and the last 30 days, they took over my job completely.” To receive his severance bonus, he said, “I had to make sure they were doing my job correctly.”

Former employees said many immigrants who arrived were younger technicians with limited data skills who did not speak English fluently and had to be instructed in the basics of the work. – New York Times

But notice Disney’s comment.

Disney executives said that the layoffs were part of a reorganization, and that the company opened more positions than it eliminated. In Orlando, Disney executives said the reorganization resulting in the layoffs was meant to allow technology operations to focus on producing more innovations. They said that over all, the company had a net gain of 70 tech jobs. – New York Times

However, does that mean that the “reorganization” did not result in H1-B visa holders replacing US citizens? Because that is what occurred. If the company opened more positions than it eliminated, then why is the only thing that can be traced is a massive layoff of US citizens?

Lies From Southern California Edison

One is from the famous case at Southern California Edison.

Last year, Southern California Edison began 540 technology layoffs while hiring two Indian outsourcing firms for much of the work. Three Americans who had lost jobs told Senate lawmakers that many of those being laid off had to teach immigrants to perform their functions. – New York Times

Now notice Southern California Edison’s comment.

In a statement, the utility said the layoffs were “a difficult business decision,” part of a plan “to focus on making significant, strategic changes that can benefit our customers.” It noted that some workers hired by the outsourcing firms were Americans. – New York Times

The fact that US citizens, being replaced by H1-B visa holders were part of a difficult business decision, does not have anything to do with the facts around US citizens being laid off. Some of the workers hired by the outsourcing firms, but very few are. The business model of the Indian firms is to hire the vast majority of their employees being H1-B or recent H1-B visa holders.

Lies from Fossil

Fossil, a fashion watchmaker, said it would lay off more than 100 technology employees in Texas this year, transferring the work to Infosys. – New York Times

Notice Fossil’s comment.

The company is planning “knowledge sharing” between the laid-off employees and about 25 new Infosys workers, including immigrants, who will take jobs in Dallas. Fossil is outsourcing tech services “to be more current and nimble” and “reduce costs when possible,” it said in a statement. – New York Times

Why were the previous tech services that were using US citizens not sufficiently nimble? This is one of the few comments by a company to admit anything to do with costs.

Industry Groups Manufacturing “Skills Shortages”

1. ACWIA 98—In early 1997, the ITAA began a campaign to actually expand the H-1B program.31 The key element in their strategy.

From that point onward, a steady stream of items in the print and electronic media implanted in the minds of the American populace the image of a desperate high-tech labor shortage.35 Yet the careful observer did have access to information that cast serious doubt on the industry’s “labor shortage” claims to get Congress to enact an increase in the annual H-1B visa cap would be a massive public relations campaign to implant in the American consciousness the notion that the nation was facing a severe IT labor shortage. The ITAA released a report claiming such a labor shortage in early March.32 At the same time, they began their offensive in Washington. The DOC then released its own “shortage report,” virtually a carbon copy of the ITAA report.33 The ITAA got the DOC to cosponsor a two-day National IT Workforce Convocation in Berkeley during January 12–13, 1998, with Secretary of Commerce, Bill Daley, as keynote speaker. Press coverage included a 3,000-word front page article in the New York Times.34

The General Accounting Office (GAO), Congress’ research arm, released a study finding “serious analytical and methodological weaknesses” in the DOC and the ITAA reports, and finding that neither study supported their claims of a labor shortage.36 An economist with the Urban Institute, a prominent nonpartisan Washington think tank, testified to the Senate, also concluding that the data was not consistent with the industry’s claim of a shortage.37 – The University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Lies About the Percentage of Workers Who are H1-B

Companies routinely lie about the percentage of their workers that are H1-B to quiet the criticism that they are displacing US workers, as is explained in the following quotation.

Industry lobbyists make claims along the lines of “Only 5 percent of our workers are H-1Bs,” but this is highly misleading.

First of all, they mean the word “workers” to include non-technical staff such as secretaries, marketers, janitors and so on. Second, they are not counting all the H-1B workers at their firms who are subcontracted by agencies. In fact, the Department of Commerce found in 2000 that H-1Bs accounted for 28 percent of all IT hires requiring at least a Bachelor’s degree;85 the percentage has grown much larger since then. Even more importantly the industry lobbyists fail to disclose that many more of their technical staff originally started as H-1Bs but later obtained green cards via employer sponsorship.

About one third of Silicon Valley programmers and engineers were foreign born as of 1990; the proportion grew to 54 percent by the year 2000.86 The reasons for the increase include the 352 percent increase in H-1B visas during 1990–1995, and the Chinese Student. – University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

These companies receive our Golden Pinocchio Award for their massive lies they have told to undermine the US worker and try to justify the importation of cheap labor using the false constructs to explain the H1-B program. 

The H-1B program has a long history of abuse by IT employers of all types and sizes. The abuse is largely, but not exclusively, due to the de facto indentured servitude of the H-1Bs. Meanwhile, the industry lobbyists have a long history of manipulating the development of H-1B statutes and regulations in both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. They have engaged in massive public relations campaigns that claim IT labor shortages of various kinds, claims that have proven to be false. The bottom line is that the industry wants H-1Bs as a source of cheap, compliant workers who will gladly work 14-hour days. – University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 

H1-Bs Workers Increase Employment Among US Citizens

Every independent study of the H1-B issue has shown large scale displacement of US workers by H1-Bs.

However, that does not stop the H1-B lobby from claiming the exact opposite.

The Heritage Foundation, citing the National Foundation for American Policy, claims that “research shows that technology companies hire five new workers for each H1-B visa for which they apply” and, with no citation included, “that on average, the skills of each highly skilled H1-B worker support the jobs of four Americans.” – Sold Out

Surprise surprise, The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank, not a real research entity. They follow no research rules and their findings are always predictable and always whatever billionaires agree with.

“Every additional 100 foreign born workers in science and technology fields is associated with 262 jobs for US nativees,” New York Times op-ed columnist David Brooks declared, citing “a study by Madeline Zavodny, and economics professor at Agnes Scott College.” – Sold Out

The Zavodny study was published by the American Enterprise Institute that performs fake research for the highest bidder. Secondly, how could H1-B jobs increase the employment of US natives? The entire H1-B program, as it metastasized from its origin, has been to displace US workers.

Bill Gates, citing National Foundation for American Policy research by Beltway operative Stuart Anderson, testified before Congress that “a recent study shows for every H1-B holder htat technology companies hire, five additional jobs are created around that person.” – Sold Out

US Workers Can’t Change Fast Enough?

The H1-B lobby and companies that displace US citizens with H1-B labor want to talk about everything except the lower costs. One bizarre explanation provided for US worker displacement was that global workers could “adapt to change faster.”

The CIO started out making jokes and laughing. Then she swung the ax and announced that they were being fired. The company was replacing computer infrastructure employees with H1-B workers from the Indian company Infosys, and application development employees with H1-B workers from the Indian company Tata. The CIO explained that this changed was necessary because Northeast Utilities needed global workers who could adapt to change faster than American workers. – Sold Out

Conclusion

Companies that displace US workers tell any lie to make it seem like they are not doing what they are doing.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B_visa

http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Mich.pdf

*https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/us/last-task-after-layoff-at-disney-train-foreign-replacements.html