Jobs - Where did they go?

Jobs are like money. It doesn't just disappear. It had to go somewhere. Let me tell you about my personal experiences in the IT job sector...

I've been unemployed on and off for a good part of the 2000s decade. It was so easy to be working in the late 1990s. But I suspect at that time, the multinationals and the big companies already had a 10 year plan to insource and outsource. So why hire someone and train them? The companies do not want to invest in someone they won't be hiring in 10 years! In the late 1990s I was looking for good job experience. It was a catch 22. No one seemed like they wanted to bring onboard and train. Anyways, over time I figured out that fulltime positions were not secure and that contracting would be just as volatile yet more profitable. This is what I do now. I really find it funny when a company looks at my resume and tells me they want someone who has been working long term with a company for many many years. They don't want someone leaving after hiring them. Then I remember they said early on in the interview that they have the open position to fill because they just had a layoff.

Anyways here's what I saw at various places. When I was a contractor at IndyMac Bank in late 2007 (this was right before they went bust were taken over by the FDIC), I saw 80% of the cubicles empty. And a lot of the back office jobs were filled were by H1s. They were hired by (I forget the exact name now) ?Conversant?. So it's cheaper to pay $300-$500 a month to H1Bs, fly them over, pay for food and living expenses then hire someone from here. The reason given for H1B sponsorship? There are a lack of qualified candidates with the relevant skills. So Indymac Bank couldn't find people to fill back office jobs?

A couple of years ago, I was interviewing for a nonprofit government funded mortgage help customer relations company. I walk through a room with almost all H1B filled IT positions.

More recently, early this year, I was interviewing for work. I was given a tour of the areas. And what do I see? In the IT room see a bunch of H1Bs. I see at least half the department was H1B.

I don't mind jobs being outsourced, but insourcing is a big no-no. There's a lot of unemployed people! Plus most, if not all, these companies are breaking the law. The law states you must pay the same wage to an H1B candidate as a local candidate.

Anyways, the worst part about all this... I see people in IT (some unemployed) that are not offended by this practice. They keep voting for the same politicians!


Part of this has to do with coddling the rich. Buying into their propaganda is foolish and dangerous. Here's a good article on that.

[Article] Crooks and Liars - The Job Creator Myth


Furthermore, here's an article by Crooks and Liars on Microsoft crying uncle over unable to fill jobs with qualified candidates. What they mean by qualified is working long hours for pennies for the dollar without any complaints. By the way, why would they have periodic layoffs if the job applicants are in short supply?

{Article] Crooks and Liars - Microsoft wants to hire more H1Bs

Reading through the comments I noted the ones that were insightful.

Comments:
"...have been for 25 years. MS does nothing in this country to help this country. Since the H1Bs were allowed in my wages have gone stagnant whereas they were rising before. Now it gets harder every year to be able to afford new systems, software upgrades, new software purchases, books, classes, travel, etc. to stay on top of the ever changing market.

Before the goverment hands out any more H1Bs, MS should be required to bring all support centers back to the US. They should offer free training to the support people who wish to move up into programming and beyond. This will solve the 2 problems. First problem of calling MS support and trying to speak to someone in India. If "excellent communication skills" are required then that requirement should apply to people who work in other countries too. Second problem, training for needs of the company from within.

I would favor tax benefits to companies who provide low cost (deeply discounted) software to IT professionals trying like hell to keep up with the new technology. Upgrades should be free to IT people.

MS should become more involved in US universities. If they are not graduating students with the skills needed then they need to work to change that here in the US.

MS should be required to pay each H1B a salary that is higher than the current wage for a US citizen in that position. If the person they are bringing in truly has badly needed skills then pay for those skills. This would probably kill the H1B program since MS is primarily trying exploit H1Bs. In addition they should pay a tax equal that persons salary to improve education and training in this country.

Last, let's be very clear here. Foreign citizens education is subsidized by their goverments. Here the student is exploited and left with heavy loans to pay off. They can work for "shit in a bucket" while Americans cannot. That is not fair trade, it's exploitation."


Here's another one:
"I'm old enough to recall all the pro-biz propaganda in the media in the 1970's about how if we'd just remove the 'dead hand' of government regulations off of the backs of Big Biz, we'd have paradise through greater efficiency, lower costs, etc. 'Laffer Curves', and all that crap. Well, we gave the businessmen what they wanted, and almost from the get-go we got monstrosities like the S & L debacle...for which we are STILL paying for. And plenty of off-shoring, which cost me my job in the 1990's. So, whenever I hear these three-piece suits mouthing off about how much more we have to give up in order to achieve their version of paradise, I recall what they've done already; their rapaciousness knows no bounds."

And another one:
"I worked in San Jose and the surrounding area for 40 years, and there was not a single day, in 40 years that Microshaft didn't bitch about not enough folks to fill the jobs they had so they had to go overseas.. It was a LIE back over those 40 years and it's a LIE today. The meme from Microsoft senior counsel Brad Smith is COMPLETE hogwash and the words he spoke, even to Congress, has not changed one word since the early 70's.

It's as clear today as it was in 1975-ish time frame - Microshaft and other large, hi-tech firms in the US DISCRIMINATE INTENTIONALLY against Americans and others over 40 - always. Anything else you hear is a LIE. I've even seen folks in the Valley with jobs but thinking about moving on, intentionally staying away from Microshaft because they knew what kind of discrimination Gates and Bomber practiced and didn't even entertain talking to Microsoft about moving over.... Microshaft didn't get a slice of US talent because that talent DIDN'T WANT TO TALK TO Microshaft....

The whole lack of talent is mostly of Microshaft's own doing. Don't let them get away with more years of LIES and more discrimination..."

One more, it's succinct:
"...then hire some good people and train them ffs"

Ok, I lied, one more:
"I work this industry. I've been an IT worker for the last 20 years of my life and this is just flat out lies.

The talent is here in America. The problem is that if MS starts hiring American again then their offshored worker contracts start to get more expensive because there are cost incentives in the contracts for continued growth.

Also speaking as a recipient of the outsourced product, (Outsource firms send the results of their work to my team for eventual product issue resolution.) I can say with 100% certainty that the product is inferior compared to the product I received from American workers.

No I am not prejudiced. If the product I received was better I wouldn't complain. Unfortunately, it isn't."