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On Tuesday, the chief human resources officers of more than 100 large
corporations sent a letter to House Speaker John
Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urging quick passage of a comprehensive
immigration reform bill.
The officials represent companies with a vast array of business interests:
General Electric, The Walt Disney Company, Marriott International, Hilton
Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, McDonald's Corporation, The Wendy's
Company, Coca-Cola, The Cheesecake Factory, Johnson & Johnson, Verizon
Communications, Hewlett-Packard, General Mills, and many more. All want to see
increases in immigration levels for low-skill as well as high-skill workers, in
addition to a path to citizenship for the millions of immigrants currently in
the U.S. illegally.
A new immigration law, the corporate officers say, "would be a long overdue
step toward aligning our nation's immigration policies with its workforce needs
at all skill levels to ensure U.S. global competitiveness." The officials cite a
publication of their trade group, the HR Policy Association, which calls for
immigration reform to "address the reality that there is a global war for
talent." The way for the United States to win that war for talent, they say, is
more immigration.
Of course, the U.S. unemployment rate is at 7.3 percent, with millions of
American workers at all skill levels out of work, and millions more so
discouraged that they have left the work force altogether. In addition, at the
same time the corporate officers seek higher numbers of immigrants, both
low-skill and high-skill, many of their companies are laying off thousands of
workers.
For example, Hewlett-Packard, whose Executive Vice President for Human
Resources Tracy Keogh signed the letter, laid off 29,000 employees in 2012. In
August of this year, Cisco Systems, whose Senior Vice President and Chief Human
Resources Officer Kathleen Weslock signed the letter, announced plans to lay off
4,000 — in addition to 8,000 cut in the last two years. United Technologies,
whose Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Organization Elizabeth B.
Amato signed the letter, announced layoffs of 3,000 this year. American Express,
whose Chief Human Resources Officer L. Kevin Cox signed the letter, cut 5,400
jobs this year. Procter & Gamble, whose Chief Human Resources Officer Mark
F. Biegger signed the letter, announced plans to cut 5,700 jobs in 2012.
This makes me so angry! Every year technology and the global economy claim more jobs, yet these companies complain that there isn't enough talent in this country to compete on a global level. I just don't believe that. What do you think?
I think robots are going to replace us all including the illegal labor. The future is very bleak for all but the very wealthy with widespread famine, disease, and endless war as we fight for the crumbs that fall from the rich peoples' table.
I think robots are going to replace us all including the illegal labor. The future is very bleak for all but the very wealthy with widespread famine, disease, and endless war as we fight for the crumbs that fall from the rich peoples' table.
You may be right. I get so sick of hearing people complain about "evil" oil companies while praising these tech companies, when it's the d a m n tech companies who started the outsourcing while selling their products as a way to reduce companies' workforces.
Computers are great, but if they had never been invented society would be fine, possibly even better off than we are today. People wouldn't be constantly connected to the Internet, smart phones, video games, etc. It would be much harder to steal people's identities or companies' intellectual property. We'd have a lot more privacy from government snooping. Our government secrets would be safer from spying by foreign countries.
I get the need for immigrants with strong STEM skills. I do not track the inability of these companies to find American workers to fill certain lesser-skilled positions. What lesser-skilled positions they are talking about?
Well Congress has listened to them.
The amnesty bill passed in the Senate doubled the H1-B number and modified it so that there is an automatic percentage increase each year. That hard cap is gone.
There is a new W Visa for low skill workers to come here and legally work. These would be your maids, waitresses and retail workers. These W Visa holders can also bring their spouse and children here.
This is called the guest worker program. Employers will get the added benefit of not having to pay some employer related taxes (FICA) and they don't count towards Obamacare mandates.
I get the need for immigrants with strong STEM skills. I do not track the inability of these companies to find American workers to fill certain lesser-skilled positions. What lesser-skilled positions they are talking about?
IBM just layed off 3000 US workers this past July.
Cisco is laying off 4000 by the end of this year.
Those are just two that I remember reading about recently.
I get the need for immigrants with strong STEM skills. I do not track the inability of these companies to find American workers to fill certain lesser-skilled positions. What lesser-skilled positions they are talking about?
I still think there are plenty of people in this country with strong STEM skills, and if not, then they need to find a way to make that happen. Let's face it, the immigration bill wouldn't bring more talented high-skilled workers here. Those people are already able to come here, or could get sponsors to come here easily. This bill would bring in millions of low-skilled people to compete with the already glutted job market. For politicians, it's a vote grab, and for companies, it's a way to lower wages for all skill levels.
This makes me so angry! Every year technology and the global economy claim more jobs, yet these companies complain that there isn't enough talent in this country to compete on a global level. I just don't believe that. What do you think?
I think robots are going to replace us all including the illegal labor. The future is very bleak for all but the very wealthy with widespread famine, disease, and endless war as we fight for the crumbs that fall from the rich peoples' table.
I think most of tend to miss a bigger picture kinda thing. In China, the IPhone is produce by workers literally fresh off the farm, not education so to speak of. The machines are so smart, all they require is a "press the red button, press the green button" training. We all have to come to grips with the possibility that all the goods and services that all of us require can be produced by far fewer of us, with the help of the machines.
The free market capitalist types seem oblivious to the possibility. Not sure if I am skeered or not.
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