Obama can ease the unemployment problem by IMMEDIATELY shutting down the H1-B and L1 Visa program.
Obama has pledged "to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas," but he hasn't linked the H1-B visa to this issue.
Indian offshore firms such as Wipro, Infosys, Satyam, Tata, GlobalCynex are worried he might make the connection. In fact, they have set to meet Obama officials in March 2009 to make sure any jobs program he comes up with does not stop the job bleed to India, and take away "the joy from the outsourcing party" !
The H1-B and L1 visa programs creates a glut of workers from abroad who are hired to replace American workers onsite in the US. These foreign workers often serve as a liaison for offshore operations, which allows many remaining jobs to be offshored, resulting in additional job losses for U.S. workers. Thus, the H1B and L1 visa programs enable the accelerated offshoring of IT and other knowledge jobs.
Corporate employers are also worried that Obama might call their bluff to move their companies offshore if he stops them from replacing their U.S. workers with cheap foreign white collar workers.
Obama should call their bluff. Period. In the last decade, corporate America has outsourced almost every job that can be profitably outsourced. The jobs that are left in the US have logistics that require the job to be performed here. US workers in these jobs are BEING REPLACED by H1-B workers at an alarming rate.
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley said: "Unfortunately, the H-1B program is so popular that it's now replacing the U.S. labor force."
It is a myth perpetrated by corporate lobyists that there is a "skills shortage" of the U.S. work force. Unfortunately, this is the biggest myth that Obama has bought, hook, line and sinker from the industry lobbyists looking to import more and more cheap foreign "captive" workers.
Warning: your jaw will drop when you view this video teaching corporations on how to go out of their way to AVOID HIRING US WORKERS.
The best way to curb offshoring, and give relief to the U.S. unemployment is to end both the H1B and L1 visa programs which floods the U.S. job market with 85,000 foreign workers EVERY YEAR. These people are ordinary workers doing ordinary work, albeit without benefits and usually at much lower wages. They are also indentured "captive" workers because of their H1-B status.
Did lawmakers believe that there would be no consequence to bringing 85,000 people and their families each year since 1990 to compete with U.S. workers? Raw math calculates that the tipping point of this policy has now been reached. This H1-B flood of foreign workers is directly related to the economic downturn now due to unemployment.
As Norm Matloff, an advocate for the U.S. worker, explains, it is a myth that there is a skills shortage in the US, in fact, more often than not, the U.S. workers is the one who end up training their H1-B and L1 replacement. These are excellent teaching, nursing, engineering, IT and other corporate jobs that are the backbone of the U.S. economy.
To see real examples of the damage, one just has to CHECK HERE and read some real world examples of how the H1_B visa decimated the U.S. work force. Here is just one example:
"I have been laid off and had to train my replacement numerous times. Every single time, it's to bring in a lower cost H1-B! I'm going through bankruptcy and possible home foreclosure! I get turned down for reasons that are incredible! I have 13 IT certifications, it's not enough. 15 years in IT, not enough. I've even been told that since I'm not Indian, there would be a culture issue!"