The U.S. Department of Labor plans to investigate whether H-1B workers can be used to replace U.S. IT workers, according to U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala). Both lawmakers have been leading a call for a probe of the controversial program.
Just two weeks ago, the Disney ABC Television Group told a team of approximately 30 to 35 application developers that they were being laid off. Their jobs were being moved to an IT contractor with large offshore operations. Some were told their last day would be at the end of July.
A discrimination lawsuit alleging that Infosys favored "South Asian" workers over all others will not be dismissed, a federal judge has ruled.
IBM says the growth in technologies such as cloud, analytics, mobile and security is "exacerbating the skills shortage" in the tech industry, and underscores the need for temporary foreign tech workers.
The battle over the H-1B visa is mostly a battle of brute political muscle on Capitol Hill, coupled with campaign spending. But in the quieter academic sphere, the visa is a topic of ongoing research, and a new paper by three economists is challenging some of the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2899350/the-h-1b-visa-debate-pain-and-the-politics.html">assertions made by the tech industry</a> that H-1B workers deliver economic gains.
The H-1B visa issue rarely surfaces during presidential races, and that's what makes the entrance by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) into the 2016 presidential race so interesting.
At the end of October, IT employees at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts were called, one-by-one, into conference rooms to receive notice of their layoffs. Multiple conference rooms had been set aside for this purpose, and in each room an executive read from a script informing the worker that their last day would be Jan. 30, 2015.
The two latest contenders to enter the presidential campaign sweepstakes -- Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Hillary Clinton, the one-time Democratic senator from New York and former secretary of state for President Barack Obama -- both support increasing the H-1B visa. But there are differences in their positions.
As president, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will support increasing the H-1B visa cap. Although Paul keeps specifics about his plans for high-skilled immigration nuanced and vague, the final outcome would be little different from Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) plan to <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2900126/ted-cruz-the-presidential-candidate-who-wants-to-increase-the-h-1b-cap-by-500.html">raise the H-1B cap by 500%</a>.
WASHINGTON - A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today on the H-1B visa offered up a stew of policy arguments, positioning and frustration.
The White House has established a $100 million program that endorses fast-track, boot camp IT training efforts and other four-year degree alternatives. But this plan is drawing criticism because of the underlying message it sends in the H-1B battle.
WASHINGTON - India and the tech industry view any type of restrictions on the H-1B visa as "protectionist" -- and so does Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
Southern California Edison (SCE) IT workers replaced by H-1B contractors have become the latest Exhibit A in Congress for reformers of the visa program.
The White House today said it is giving final approval to a rule change that will allow some H-1B visa workers' spouses to get jobs.
The layoffs of IT workers at Southern California Edison (SCE) has drawn the attention of U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, (R-Calif.), who called reports that the H-1B visa program is being used to replace part of SCE's workforce "deeply disturbing."