Tech Job Squeeze: IEEE vs. ITAA

Date: Tuesday, August 20, 2002 11:59 AM

*** H-1B NEWSLETTER ***

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The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA (IEEE) is finally
starting to dispute Harris Miller's propaganda. In the past the IEEE has
tried to avoid direct confrontation with the shortage shouters but this
seems to be changing since they are seeing so many of their members on the
unemployment list. LeEarl Bryant (IEEE president) uses the law of supply and
demand to argue that gluts in the labor market lowers supply. Harris Miller
argues that government mandates can keep salaries from degrading. Perhaps we
could send Miller to a remedial economics course to study some of Milton
Friedman's basic theories.

Harris Miller (ITAA):
''The law requires that you pay foreign workers at or above what comparable
U.S. workers make,''

LeEarl Bryant (IEEE):
by keeping the supply of workers high, companies are able to ''cause salary
stagnation.''

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/saturday/business_d3d54ea437e220cf0053.html
Tech job squeeze
Unemployed Americans say too many foreigners get visas
Marilyn Geewax - Cox Washington Bureau
Saturday, August 17, 2002

Washington --- With the tech sector crumbling, the number of H-1B visas
granted to skilled foreign workers has fallen by half over the past year.
Employers say that proves the system is working, but some tech workers
believe the number remains too high.

''We are really hurting ourselves when we bring in people from outside the
country'' rather than retrain skilled Americans for new tech positions, said
Kathryn James, an unemployed Northern Virginia resident with three college
electrical engineering degrees.

The foreign workers stay just a few years, then ''take the knowledge back to
their countries and compete against us,'' causing even more job losses, said
James, who has been out of work for more than eight months.

LeEarl Bryant, president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers-USA, an association representing about 230,000 electrical,
electronics, computer and software engineers, said the problem is getting
worse as the tech sector continues to contract.

''There are no fewer than 180,000 experienced and available computer
scientists who are unemployed,'' Bryant said. ''I want American workers to
have jobs.''

But tech employers say they continue to need foreigners who have certain
skills that are in short supply in this country.

''It's still a question of skill sets,'' said Harris Miller, president of
the Information Technology Association of America, which represents tech
companies. ''You might need someone with knowledge of a particular language.
That person may not be available in the U.S. labor force. There may be
someone who worked on a particular project at a university, and he may be
the right person to hire.''

Miller said that because the tech sector is having such a tough time,
employers need all the help they can get to survive, and that includes
having the ability to hire workers with specialized skills. ''As long as you
are not using it to undercut wages, you have to give the labor market a
certain amount of flexibility,'' he said.

In the summer of 2000, tech companies were vigorously lobbying Congress to
increase the annual cap on H-1B visas, which allow skilled foreigners to
work in this country for up to six years. Most visas are issued to computer
workers, and most go to citizens of India and China.

In October 2000, Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill that raised the limit
from 115,000 to 195,000 and created exemptions for certain workers,
including university researchers.

The tech downturn had already begun, but during fiscal 2001, the tech sector
was still healthy enough for companies to hire 163,200 people under the
program.

'Program is working'

The Immigration and Naturalization Service announced Tuesday, however, that
the number of H-1B visas issued in the first eight months of fiscal 2002 was
60,500. Based on the 18,000 applications still pending, this year's visa
total should end up being less than half of last year's.

That plunge proves that ''the program is working as designed,'' Miller said.
''In a tight labor market, H-1Bs were going up. With a very soft labor
market like we're in right now, we're seeing a dramatic decrease in H-1Bs.
That's what Congress intended.''

Bryant disagrees, saying the visas should not be used when so many U.S.
workers need jobs.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment among
computer scientists, which includes systems analysts, jumped from 4.8
percent to 5.3 percent during the second quarter. While lower than the
overall U.S. unemployment rate of 5.9 percent, that rate is very high for
tech workers, Bryant said.

Not 'being picky'

Americans seeking jobs would be willing to retrain to satisfy employers, she
said. ''It is not a case of people just being picky'' and refusing to
relocate or learn new skills, she said. Rather, ''They aren't even getting
the interviews'' because so many employers automatically turn to temporary
foreign workers.James, 53, said she believes many employers discriminate
against older U.S. workers on the assumption their educations are out of
date. But James said that even if any of her skills were rusty, she could
easily be retrained.

The H-1B visa law prohibits employers from paying wages below the market
rate. But Bryant said that by keeping the supply of workers high, companies
are able to ''cause salary stagnation.''

Miller said that is untrue. ''The law requires that you pay foreign workers
at or above what comparable U.S. workers make,'' he said.

But any use of H-1B visas will hurt the country by discouraging young
Americans from studying computer sciences and electrical engineering,
according to Steven Camarota, research director for the Center for
Immigration Studies, a Washington research group opposed to the liberal use
of H-1B visas. At the same time, having easy access to foreign labor gives
employers less reason to lobby for increased spending on education in the
United States, Camarota said.

''Who cares what the schools are turning out'' if employers can easily
import labor, he said. ''There is the very real potential that this will
allow American education to atrophy.''

H-1B VISAS STAYING BELOW THE CEILING
The soft labor market has brought a decrease in visas issued so far this
year.
........ Number of visas...... Number of visas
...... allowed under law................issued
2000............ 120,000.............. 120,000
2001............ 200,000.............. 160,000
2002............ 200,000................80,000
Source: Immigration and Naturalization Service
JEROME THOMPSON / Staff

CHANGE IN DEMAND
The anticipated demand for tech workers has declined since 2000.
2002...... 1.1 million
2001...... 901,589
2000...... 1.6 million
Source: Information Technology Association of America

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