Reactionary Articles in Indian Press
Reactionary Articles in Indian Press
Date: Monday, June 02, 2003 1:35 PM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
www.ZaZona.com
Alarmist articles are appearing on many Indian websites. Their
implication that H-1B visas and outsourcing is down because American
workers are protesting is simply ridiculous. The number of protests
hasn't been large enough to create a blip on the radar screen. You
could watch news 24 hours a day and never know that a high-tech worker
protested anything.
The second article mentions Shirley Turner's anti-outsourcing bill.
NASSCOM and ITAA sucessfully got that bill shelved so what is the
problem? Mica's bill is mentioned as a threat but it won't have a
measurable impact on Indian bodyshops or L-1 visas so again, no
problem.
Indian reporters should tone down the reactionary rhetoric. India and
China have nothing to worry about because the free-trader cartel in the
U.S. government is committed to protecting the jobs of foreign. More
importantly most of these politicians will easily win re-election. The
only thing that could hurt H-1Bs and the outsourcing industry would be
a world depression.
According to Harris Miller of the ITAA, U.S. companies have said
repeatedly that they will increase their H-1B hiring the minute the
economy picks up. Miller might lie about a lot of things, but on this
one he is correct.
Here are some factors that keep the H-1B numbers down that should have
been discussed in this reactionary article:
* A depressed economy. This is the single biggest reason demand for
H-1Bs is down.
* H-1B exempts that don't count toward that total count. The 60,500
number is way too low.
* Increasing use of L-1 visas
* Outsourcing of jobs means less H-1Bs are needed. Either way, Indian
companies like Wipro win while Americans will continue to see their
jobs disappear.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=47789104
(this one has a comment section)
http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/may/28usvisa1.htm
H-1B visas dip; US cos quizzed over Indians
May 28, 2003 21:15 IST
As protests increase in the US against outsourcing of jobs to India,
especially in the information techonolgy sector, US has cut down
issuance of H-1B visas for overseas professionals, and a legislator has
asked five companies to reveal how many Indians they are employing.
During the first three quarters of fiscal year 2002, 60,500 people were
approved to begin employment in H-1B status, while the limit in the
period was 195,000, according to a release from the immigration
authorities, who has now come under the Department of Homeland
Security.
By comparison, as of June 30, 2001, 130,700 were approved by the
Immigration and Natural Services to begin employment in H-1B status.
During the first nine months of fiscal year 2002, 159,000 H-1B
petitions were filed for initial or continuing H-1B employment compared
with 270,000 and 220,000 for the same period in 2001 and 2000
respectively.
Petition filings declined by 41 per cent between the first nine months
of FY 2001 and the first nine months of FY 2002.
In total, 147,600 petitions were approved during the first three
quarters of FY 2002, of which 42,700 were filed prior to October 1,
2001.
Meanwhile, Connecticut Republican Congresswoman Nancy Johnson has
requested the chief executives of five leading American insurance
companies -- Aetna Inc, CIGNA Corp, The Hartford Financial Services
Group, The Phoenix Cos Inc and Travelers Property Casualty Corp -- to
reveal how many Indian citizens they are employing in information
technology.
The request came in the wake of allegations that the companies are
abusing the H-1B visa programme.
In her letters to the companies, Johnson also wanted to know if the
number of Indian employees in information technology has grown during
the past two years and how many information technology workers have
been laid off.
Wanting to know more about outsourcing of jobs to India and other
nations, Johnson met with constituents last month who were complaining
about the loss of jobs for Americans because of the import of
foreigners and export of jobs overseas. India was singled out, because
its professionals are employable due to their proficiency in English.
"The Congresswoman's interest in this is to see that Connecticut jobs
are protected and that the law is followed," Brian S Schubert,
Johnson's press secretary was quoted as saying, though there is not the
slightest suggestion that the insurance companies are in violation of
the law.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/stories/2003060200070200.htm
Indian IT firms on the defence
AFTER A long comfortable cruise, Indian information technology
professionals in the U.S. appear to have hit speed-breakers. All of a
sudden, they find the road ahead in that country strewn with obstacles
of varying kinds. Hailed as heroes not long ago, Indian techies are
today portrayed as undesirable villains who have hit the Americans in
the stomach.
The first sign of the approaching problem came when Shirley Turner, a
Democratic Party legislator in New Jersey, moved a bill seeking to ban
government jobs in the State from being shipped overseas. It has since
been passed unanimously by the State Senate and awaits action by the
legislature's lower house. Since then, three more States - Connecticut,
Maryland and Washington - have proposed legislation to prevent
outsourcing of government-related back office work to India and other
developing nations.
As it is estimated that only one per cent of software services and call
centre exports from India is used for government projects in the U.S.,
the moves by these American States are unlikely to impact the Indian IT
industry in a big way. The fact of the matter, however, is that the
action of these four States has sown the seeds of suspicion against
Indian techies. The rightness of their action can be questioned under
the WTO regime. Yet, the negative perception about India will linger
long to work on the minds of common Americans who fear job losses
anytime in the current scenario.
Already, the perception has triggered further action to checkmate
Indian IT companies which are seen to rob the locals of their
legitimate jobs. Congressman John Mica has already moved a bill in the
House of Representatives that seeks to place curbs on any Indian
working in the U.S. on an L-1 visa. Typically, the L-1 visa allows a
U.S. company, which has subsidiaries overseas, to bring its employees
from abroad on an intra-company transfer basis. Once in the U.S., the
L-1 visa-holder can be deployed at a client's site.
Microsoft is now able to bring men from its subsidiary in India and
deploy them later at its client's site. The proposed bill - if passed -
will snatch away this luxury of deploying L-1 visa-holders at customer
sites. The L-1 visa-holders will only be allowed to work from the
premises of their parent/branch firms and not at customer sites. Such
curbs will surely have serious revenue implications for the Indian IT
industry.
Should one view all these as part of a carefully scripted positioning
strategy to wrest greater access to the Indian market and strike a
favourable balance of trade with India? Or, should these be considered
an ugly fall-out of the vote-bank politics played out by American
politicians? Or else, should we take these as genuine actions,
reflecting the concerns of the majority Americans over the looming
joblessness in the society? If these are part of a positioning
strategy, New Delhi will do well to paper over thorny trade related
issues with Washington sooner than later. If these are the consequence
of vote-bank politics, they have to be understood in proper perspective
and a solution found within the politico-trade limitations. Here too, a
greater responsibility is cast on New Delhi. If these are the
consequences of Americans' concern for their jobs, the Indian software
industry, in general, and individual firms, in particular, will be well
advised to embark on `course corrections' to win back the confidence of
American citizens.
Clearly, outsourcing is proving to be a sensitive HR (human relation)
and political issue. Yet, for the business community, it is turning out
to be a useful tool to cut cost, improve efficiency and stay
competitive in the global marketplace. Sensitive politicians (for their
own survival, of course) will, no doubt, be tempted to use their power
to legislate and block government jobs going out of the country. That
is what is being now sought to be done by a few American States.
Nearer home in India, politicians of all hues have consciously kept the
reservation issue constantly on a powder keg. It is, however, a
different matter that government jobs have long dried up what with the
State governments, regardless of their political affiliations,
initiating reform process of their own brands leading up to
privatisation. Ironically, the reservation issue finds wide coverage in
the Indian media. Given the insignificant percentage of Indian software
exports to government projects in the U.S., the current noise in the
Indian media about the action of the American States also appears to
have been exaggerated. This is now having a multiplier effect with the
American media picking up the thread from its Indian counterpart.
The challenge before the Indian Government, the software industry and
professionals now is about `perception management'. How to erase the
developing perception in the U.S. about Indian techies? As India seeks
to align with the global economy, it needs to court professionalism in
all spheres. A leading industrialist in Chennai once said that he hated
the presence of lawyers in any joint venture discussions. One can
recall the kind of lobbying done to push in India the power project of
Enron and the nylon venture of DuPont. While DuPont had exited the
nylon venture in India, the Enron project has gotten enmeshed in
problems of a different kind. Today, the name of the game is
professionalism - be it in business or politics. Precisely this is the
reason why India needs professional lobbyists to do the job to
perfection. Americans may frown upon the record of the Chinese
vis-a-vis human rights. Yet, Beijing, it is argued, has been successful
in its lobbying with the Washington. So much so, Chinese products do
not suffer any contempt from Americans.
A senior industrialist in Chennai once said, "Thanks to IT
professionals, no one in the world now asks where is India?" IT has
pushed India into a visible place on the world map. The industry is now
coming under assault from without. New Delhi has to get its acts right
by effectively lobbying at various international forums about the need
to adhere to the tenets of the free market economy both in letter and
spirit. Now that India has emerged as a super power in the IT field,
India Inc. requires to be a lot more sensitive to the concerns of
locals in host countries. It will do well to adhere to the highest
global practices. The series of recent mishaps - the Arun Jain
detention in Indonesia, the arrest of i-flex CEO in London, the police
fracas with IT professionals in Malaysia and the like - suggest that
the Indian software industry needs to grow up if it were to play a
leadership role in the international arena for a long time to come.
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