US Corporations Screw US Workers

There is a political undercurrent to Qualcomm’s pending workforce cuts. The company has supported immigration reform for highly skilled workers — saying it can’t find enough qualified Americans to meet its needs. Qualcomm has applied for thousands of H-1B temporary work visas for foreign workers over the years, and has received hundreds of approvals.

The company argues that half of U.S. university bachelor’s degree graduates in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) are not U.S. citizens. If tech companies can’t hire these U.S.-educated foreign graduates to work in this country, the firms will be forced to move their research and innovation centers offshore where they can hire the talent they need.

But during layoffs, these claims of a shortage of American tech workers come under scrutiny.

Microsoft was criticized in Congress for calling for more H-1B visas as it was cutting 7,800 jobs.

“Typically, companies hold onto their H-1B workers well after they have let huge numbers of their American workers go,” said Russell Harrison, director of government relations for IEEE USA, a technology industry trade group. “The companies will say, ‘They’re not in the same division. They are not the same type of worker.’ In some cases that is true and in some cases it isn’t.”

Harrison argues H1-B visa rules make it difficult for foreign workers at U.S. companies to change jobs. They tend to be “systemically underpaid” compared with American workers, he said, and if they are laid off, they are supposed to leave the country without recourse.

“There are a lot of financial and business reasons why (companies) would want an H-1B worker over an American,” he said. “The policy question for American society is are workers being treated fairly? What IEEE USA insists is that American workers should not be discriminated against.”

Aberle said Qualcomm and other tech companies are dealing with the pool of workers that’s available. Though the company tries to move existing employees to different jobs within the company when possible, it still needs to hire the best talent for the position, he said.

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What's really going on here?

US corporations, with the full approval of the US government, are screwing US workers.

ALL the candidates for President, with the exception of Donald Trump, are going along with this betrayal. So if you want, call him a clown and vote for someone who will soon be stabbing you in the back and telling you it was all your fault for being so overpaid and/or lazy.