Fire Fight
U.S. workers are complaining about immigrant labor--this time, it's technology layoffs.
It seems like just yesterday dotcoms couldn't hire fast
enough. Unable to find qualified employees stateside, many were
hiring workers from overseas on H-1B visas, which allow
"specialty" workers in occupations such as computer
programming to enter the United States should demand in their
fields exceed the available supply in the work force here. Demand
was so great, the cap on the number of H-1B visas issued annually
was raised in 2000. But given the mass layoffs that have hit today's job market,
employers of H-1B workers are coming under fire, facing accusations
they're letting American employees go in order to hire
applicants from other countries willing to work for less. Because, in reality, H-1B workers must be paid at least the
median wage in their field, the accusations seem to stem mostly
from animosity. Vivek Wadhwa, founder and CEO of Relativity
Technologies Inc. in Cary, North Carolina, had to downsize his
software modernization company by 10 percent last year [2001]. The
day before our interview, he laid off an American worker.
"When deciding who should go, we were totally color-blind and
visa-blind, and judged it on who was going to contribute the most
to our economic health," says Wadhwa. "In the technology
industry, we're so motivated by success and creating technology
excellence, we can't afford to discriminate [based] on anything
but competence." Content Continues Below
Franklin Kury, a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based immigration
lawyer, says the possibility of discrimination suits by American
employees is slim to none, as H-1B is a law, free to be used. But
whether it's the homegrown or H-1B employee you choose to let
go, handle the case with the utmost sensitivity. Scour the
employee's records and employment history to ensure there's
valid evidence to provide reasoning for the termination. "You
have to be able to show [the layoff] is justified on economic
grounds and [has] nothing to do with their origin or ethnic
background," says Kury. "Once [H-1B workers] are employed
by an American corporation, they're subject to all the laws
anybody else would be." And remember that H-1B workers have 10
days following the end of a job to leave the country, so try to
give them enough advance notice that they'll have the
opportunity to find other jobs. Contact Sources
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