My English friend was worried. "I guess the next step is getting American-accent lessons," she said over dinner the other night.
She is a peer of mine -- we were at Cambridge together -- and she has wound up in New York working in a senior position for an American bank on Wall Street. We frequently joke that she must have done something appalling to be punished for her timing. She arrived in New York in September, since when she has hardly had time to think. But her point about having to get an American accent has a serious premise.
She -- like most of my British friends here -- is furious at the new protectionist amendments to the administration's stimulus bill. The changes to the law will not only prohibit free trade but will severely limit the number of H-1B visas given to "exceptional foreigners" to work in banks that have taken funds from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.
That means that Britons who were due to start work here later this year will have their job offers rescinded.
So much for Gordon Brown's notion of a "global solution" that he's been busy foisting on President Obama -- to a noticeably cool reception here.
Ever since I've lived in New York, I've watched English compatriots come and go. They've worked and partied more intensely than they knew they were capable of -- and Manhattan has embraced them as it welcomes anyone who wants to live with the ferocity of a lion.
Now, thanks to the amendment, any jobs will go to Americans. The ideal of American meritocracy seems to be dying along with the economy.
Another British friend, also senior on Wall Street, is furious. "To do this is un-American. It's uneconomic," he fumed, noting his bank will probably still have to pay the new hires their signing-on fees -- a waste of money as it can't give them a job.
And for those foreigners who already have H1-B visas? I have a cautionary tale. A 30-year-old British banker at Bank of America on an H1-B visa was told he'd be promoted, but was then fired, and left with not enough money to get his belongings back to the UK.
American friends I told rolled their eyes. "We sympathise about the protectionism point but not the firing point," said one. "This is America. You get hired. You get fired. Get over it."
This article was originally published by the London Evening Standard
While you're reading the following link I'll be out in the garage sharpening my pitchfork and soaking my torches in kerosene.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/ITeS/JPMorgan-to-up-outsourcing-to-India-by-25/articleshow/4242704.cms
If you want to see the fruits of free trade-go to the rust belt and look at the ghost towns which were once vibrant industrial communities-witness firsthand the economic genocide of entire communities, previously inhabited by well paid industrial workers who made a living wage, enjoyed job security, secure retirement and health care benefits. Go to the abandoned textile mills of North Carolina, and the dilapidated, gutted farm towns of the midwest. American meritocracy? Our government's responsibility, as far as I know, extends to the well being of the American people, their domestic tranquility, their general welfare and their common defense. American economic policy does not exist solely for the benefit of Brit dilletantes who want to "party hard".
In fact the typical H-1B worker is rank and file with ordinary skills and is paid that way. The median wage for an H-1B is $50k.
And even at the 75th percentile they are paid the “unexceptional†rate of $60k.
A quick look at the H-1B database shows firms bringing in $12/hr computer programmers.
The top H-1B employers are outsourcing companies like Infosys, Satyam and Wipro. These firms hire almost no Americans and send jobs overseas.
For more information about the _corrupt_ H-1B program, see: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=how_guestworkers_promote_outsourcing
Firms exploit the loopholes in H-1B program to pay below-market wages and to force American workers to train foreign replacements.
See this story about Kevin Flanagan, a Bank of America employee. He was so distraught that the Bank of America laid him off after forcing him to train his foreign replacements, he committed suicide. By all accounts the triggering event for Flanagan was his lay-off. His grieving father, Tom, put it this way, “"Kevin losing his job with Bank of America was the defining event in his decision to end his life. Certainly there were other issues, demons, with which he was unable to cope.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2004-04-06-replace_x.htm
Of course all of this has been reported extensively in BusinessWeek and NYT.
I got paid six figures back then (the hiring manager rolled his eyes when I asked for it, but then agreed to pay me, anyway, I was exactly what they needed and I got the job done).
No problem. But don't let reality hit you on your way out.
If you combine the H-1B Visa program impact with the impact of the 1965 Immigration Act (Hart-Celler) which has mandated that 90% of immigration to the U.S. come from non-Western European countries it’s easy to see how U.S. demographics have changed since the 1960’s. In 1968 over 88% of American babies were white. Now, 49% of American babies are white. That’s a 39% difference in 40 years and is a direct result of government backed social engineering and not a natural process.
Since 1970 crime in the U.S. has gone up, our nation has become Balkanized, we are no longer the clear leader in technological innovation, and our healthcare system is down the tubes. It’s time we ended the H-1B and L1 Visa programs, repealed the 1965 Hart-Celler Immigration Act, repealed NAFTA, went back to National Origins immigration policies, and started building our manufacturing sector once again. If we don’t do these things we will become a Bloated with Deficits, Balkanized, High Crime, Low Wage, Narco state in the future.
Most H1-Bs eventually get a greencard and citizenship. And without them the US could close shop.
"If we don"t do these things we will become a Bloated with Deficits, Balkanized, High Crime, Low Wage, Narco state in the future."
Please show me the statistics for drug related crimes that are tied to H1-Bs.
But I agree, you will be a narco state in the future. There are plenty of white American trash who need drugs to live in the reality of being on the bottom and staying there forever.
:-)
Thanks for the crash course in latent racism.
PS: America is being Balkanized? Are you serious? Do you even know what that word means? Here's a hint - it's Turkish for 'mountain'. Yes, Turkish. Not from any European language. It dates back to the time when South Eastern Europe was under the sway of the Ottomans.
There you go. Another iota of knowledge added to your hitherto limited collection.
On the other hand, if you're referring to the breakup of the Ottoman Empire (not of Yugoslavia - get your history right), do point out in your next comment all those countries which formerly comprised the United States.
I've noticed lately (in the last five years or so) that people are unable to parse the nuances of most issues, instead resorting to a childish "good vs. evil" mentality resulting in a set of obviously faulty choices. With us or against us. 100% individually-funded education or 100% communism. No grey areas.
Incidentally, having worked in technology for the majority of my career, my experience with proponents of H1-B visas enjoy the upper hand they gain over foreign workers. They can pay them less, work them more and generally lord over them with the (usually unspoken) threat of sending them home to India or the Pacific Rim.
It would be nice if the H1-B policy changed and the scarcity of foreign workers created a demand in the US for engineers and scientists again. Lord knows we have enough bankers and lawyers.