Microsoft, Intel Firings Stir Resentment Over Visas

[Joanne98]

Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp.’s plan to eliminate U.S. workers after lobbying for more foreigner visas is stirring resentment among lawmakers and employees.

As many as 5,000 employees are being shown the door at Microsoft, which uses more H1-B guest-worker visas than any other U.S. company. Some employees and politicians say Microsoft should get rid of foreigners first.

“If they lay people off, are they going to think of America first or are they going to think of the world first?” Chuck Grassley, a Republican Senator from Iowa, said in an interview. He sent a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer the day after Microsoft announced the job cuts last month, demanding Ballmer fire visa holders first.

Across the technology industry, some of the biggest users of H1-B visas are cutting jobs, including Intel Corp., International Business Machines Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. The firings at Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, came less than a year after Chairman Bill Gates lobbied Congress for an expansion of the visa program.

Even before Microsoft announced the cuts, its first-ever companywide layoffs, comments on a blog run by an anonymous Microsoft worker angrily debated getting rid of guest workers first. The author of the Mini-Microsoft blog eventually had to censor and then completely block all arguments about visas, after the conversation “got downright nasty.”

New Hires

Microsoft is hiring 2,000 to 3,000 workers over the next 18 months, offsetting the job cuts. Some of those will certainly be on H1-B visas, said Ginny Terzano, a spokeswoman for the Redmond, Washington-based company. She declined to comment on how many workers laid off are on visas. Laid-off Microsoft employees aren’t always a good fit for new positions, she said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=afB9Q1A5.qyI&refer=home

[Andy823]

1. Big corporations won't be happy

Till they have reduced wages in the U.S. to the low levels of third world countries. They don't want to pay any kind or benefits, and they want to lower wages, all so their bottom line profits can continue to stay in the billions while they lay off american workers! They exploit those who come here on visas, those who come here illegally, and the outsource out of this country in order to produce higher profits, yet fail to realize that they are eliminating the base that "buys" their products! It's just plain crazy if you ask me! There should be regulations, and people to enforce them, against firing americans and then bringing in people to work for less money and no benefits!