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http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-...employees-requests-5000-visas-foreign-workers

The ink was barely dry on Dell’s acquisition of EMC, the largest technology deal ever, valued at $67 billion when it was announced in October last year – and already the layoff rumors are oozing from the woodwork.

“People familiar with the company’s plans” told Bloomberg that Dell will cut 2,000 to 3,000 jobs.

Dell spokesman Dave Farmer refused to comment specifically on the report on Thursday but said instead, as sort of a confirmation: “As is common with deals of this size, there will be some overlaps we will need to manage and where some employee reduction will occur.”

On Wednesday, the day the deal closed, CEO Michael Dell gave some clues in an interview: “There are some overlapping functions and that sort of thing – that’s not the primary feature of this, but there is some of that.”

These “overlaps” or “overlapping functions” are terms in corporate speak for real people, and these real people are mostly working in the US, according to the report: supply chain, marketing, and general and administrative positions.

Between 2014 and 2016, Dell applied for 2,039 H-1B visas and 256 Green Cards. EMC applied for 2,347 H-1B visas and 453 Green Cards, for a total of 5,095 applications.

These are just applications. Not all of them will be certified, and of those that are certified, not all beneficiaries will be hired. But the data for 2016 isn’t complete yet either.

It’s the hot thing to do for tech companies: laying off existing workers in the US, and bringing it foreign workers on H-1B visas. The Senate has been looking into some of the abuses.

Sigh

 

[[Agent]ZeroNine]

Rather than creating better products and stepping up your creative marketing, just fire everyone and hire overseas workers who will take half the pay and speak half as good as a native. This will outweigh any financial loses. Genius. This cannot fail. So very sustainable...

All jokes aside, I feel for those workers. We def do not need a sudden explosion of 5000 unemployed workers anywhere. Oh, and to those potential overseas employees, do the smart thing, and get married ASAP to a native.

 

[Joni]

It might be time to introduce a minimum wage for HB-1 positions that is considerably high, like $100.000. If these are really functions that can't be filled in by US employees, it should be worth it to pay that much.

 

[WedgeX]

It might be time to introduce a minimum wage for HB-1 positions that is considerably high, like $100.000. If these are really functions that can't be filled in by US employees, it should be worth it to pay that much.

I'd be for this.

 

[Claude Kenni]

Dude, you're getting a Delhi.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Perfect timing for the presidential debates

 

[Sectorseven]

Perfect timing for the presidential debates

Hillary's gardener told me he thinks she uses a Dell.

I'm just saying.

 

[ahoyhoy]

Rather than creating better products and stepping up your creative marketing, just fire everyone and hire overseas workers who will take half the pay and speak half as good as a native. This will outweigh any financial loses. Genius. This cannot fail. So very sustainable...

All jokes aside, I feel for those workers. We def do not need a sudden explosion of 5000 unemployed workers anywhere. Oh, and to those potential overseas employees, do the smart thing, and get married ASAP to a native.

Long term sustainability doesn't matter. The objective of publicly traded companies is to create short term value for their shareholders by increasing profits year over year.

It's really kind if sickening.

 

[Fei]

It might be time to introduce a minimum wage for HB-1 positions that is considerably high, like $100.000. If these are really functions that can't be filled in by US employees, it should be worth it to pay that much.

I agree, but this would be political poison.

 

[demon]

Dude, you're getting a Delhi.

Wow I forgot about that ad campaign. Just looked it up and it was 2000-2003,holy shit. Also, nice joke.

This shit pisses me off though.

 

[sans_pants]

It might be time to introduce a minimum wage for HB-1 positions that is considerably high, like $100.000. If these are really functions that can't be filled in by US employees, it should be worth it to pay that much.

They would still have more control over the employees, ie. we control your immigration status and will work you to the bone with no push back

 

[Lucumo]

Long term sustainability doesn't matter. The objective of publicly traded companies is to create short term value for their shareholders by increasing profits year over year.

It's really kind if sickening.

Dell is a privately held company.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Id hate to be an overlapping function right now

 

[Kieli]

Companies applying for H1-B: "There is a shortage of skilled workers in the NA market."

Translation:

"We don't want to pay fair market value for NA workers, so we'll get rid of them and get a fresh supply of H1-Bs that fear us kicking them back home and are cheap"

 

[SuperHans]

Rather than creating better products and stepping up your creative marketing, just fire everyone and hire overseas workers who will take half the pay and speak half as good as a native. This will outweigh any financial loses. Genius. This cannot fail. So very sustainable...

All jokes aside, I feel for those workers. We def do not need a sudden explosion of 5000 unemployed workers anywhere. Oh, and to those potential overseas employees, do the smart thing, and get married ASAP to a native.

I think this is a bit ignorant. Why would they hire people with poor English? Most India's I've worked with have perfect English. Not to mention that people from the Uk and Ireland etc also would also have to get H1Bs.

 

[Kthulhu]

Dude, you're getting a Delhi.

This shit is gross.

 

[PdotMichael]

It might be time to introduce a minimum wage for HB-1 positions that is considerably high, like $100.000. If these are really functions that can't be filled in by US employees, it should be worth it to pay that much.

Way of killing your industry.

 

[Paz]

A lot of people seem to think these Visa's are easy to get but it's actually quite difficult to move to the states for work, as an Australian with nearly 10 years in my field but without a 4 year degree I'm pretty sure they'd turn me down.

Like it or not the people they bring in on these things are certainly highly skilled workers.

 

[KevinRo]

A lot of people seem to think these Visa's are easy to get but it's actually quite difficult to move to the states for work, as an Australian with nearly 10 years in my field but without a 4 year degree I'm pretty sure they'd turn me down.

Like it or not the people they bring in on these things are certainly highly skilled workers.

This is completely false.

I've known computer programmers right out of university hired by Microsoft and Amazon from Canada just because they'll be paid less.

It's going on everywhere.

They get a visa, set up in corporate temporary housing for a couple months along with a company car to use. It's crazy.

And these programmers have no experience other than university and some internship programs.

 

[Mesousa]

This is completely false.

I've known computer programmers right out of university hired by Microsoft and Amazon from Canada just because they'll be paid less.

It's going on everywhere.

They get a visa, set up in corporate temporary housing for a couple months along with a company car to use. It's crazy.

And these programmers have no experience other than university and some internship programs.

Of course they do. You can see it in grad programs, which are really just tunnels to give people from overseas a shot a US jobs. They are hired for less, given "Company rooms
" and paid a lot less than what they will even offer Americans now.

Its not even a fact of American tech workers not accepting such low rates anymore, they just won't even try to hire them at it anymore.

 

[Joni]

They would still have more control over the employees, ie. we control your immigration status and will work you to the bone with no push back

Should be resolved through regular worker protection laws.

Way of killing your industry.

At the moment it is killing American employment. If high-paid workers are fired for lower-paid workers, it is clear abuse of the system that should be stopped. If it is a matter of not finding high skilled, high paid workers in the USA, a minimum wage won't hurt them.

 

[Sulik2]

Way of killing your industry.

Or its a great way to try and force the money out of the hands of stock holders and C level employees into a robust middle class that drives the economy combined with increased taxes on stock revenue, corporate profits and high income earners.

 

[exmachina64]

A lot of people seem to think these Visa's are easy to get but it's actually quite difficult to move to the states for work, as an Australian with nearly 10 years in my field but without a 4 year degree I'm pretty sure they'd turn me down.

Like it or not the people they bring in on these things are certainly highly skilled workers.

There's a difference between you as an individual Australian trying to get a visa to work in the U.S. and large corporations trying to get thousands of visas every year. The tech industry heavily lobbies U.S. politicians to increase the number of H-1B visas every year.

 

[DpadD]

Dude, you're getting a Delhi.

Well done, Claude.

Well done.

 

[Chinese Cartoons]

3k new trump supporters.

 

[Sid]

Rather than creating better products and stepping up your creative marketing, just fire everyone and hire overseas workers who will take half the pay and speak half as good as a native. This will outweigh any financial loses. Genius. This cannot fail. So very sustainable...

All jokes aside, I feel for those workers. We def do not need a sudden explosion of 5000 unemployed workers anywhere. Oh, and to those potential overseas employees, do the smart thing, and get married ASAP to a native.

It'll be a 10th of the pay but their English will probably be just as good.

 

[ghostofsparta]

Aren't tech companies always complaining how there aren't enough people in the US to fill their needs? Yeah, ok.

 

[Krejlooc]

Fucking terrible

My very first job out of college, I lost to outsourcing. Wound up training my own replacement. Fuck I hate outsourcing.

 

[Krejlooc]

Aren't tech companies always complaining how there aren't enough people in the US to fill their needs? Yeah, ok.

No? In fact, they usually laugh at threats of unionization because there is always a glut of workers ready to replace you if you rock the boat.

 

[mercenar1e]

does anyone have statistics for the total amount of H-1B visas filed in 2016?

 

[diablos991]

Dell is just operating in the rules they have been given. Can't blame them.

We do need to change the rules.

 

[Joni]

3k new trump supporters.

Indeed. It is one of the subgroups amongst Trump voters that Hillary has really neglected and that she should get back on her side. It is one of the few parts where Trump is on the good side.

 

[Peterthumpa]

It might be time to introduce a minimum wage for HB-1 positions that is considerably high, like $100.000. If these are really functions that can't be filled in by US employees, it should be worth it to pay that much.

Isn't that a thing in the US already? I remember when applying to come over to Canada for work how my company had to deal with a thing called LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment), and how I had to literally prove that my knowledge in my work area was above average in comparison with the Canadian AND the BC market back then.

Also, my wages must be a specific % higher than what a Canadian would get.

 

[Mechanized]

Dell is just operating in the rules they have been given. Can't blame them.

We do need to change the rules.

This is bullshit. Of course you can blame them. Just because they're operating in a way that doesn't break any laws doesn't mean what they're doing isn't shitty as fuck.

 

[butzopower]

I work as a software engineer for a company under EMC, now Dell. I know plenty of people overseas hired via EMC through H1-Bs and they aren't just outsourced cheap labor, but very skilled and intelligent people from all over the world. I imagine most people being laid off, as the article says, marketing / supply chain / etc, aren't having their positions filled by H1-B applicants, because those aren't the jobs these people are coming over to do: engineering / design / etc.

Coincidentally, I'm an American in the process of getting a visa to work in the UK through EMC.

 

[chadskin]

Good, old Zero Hedge drumming up the anti-immigrant rhetoric.

 

[BlackLagoon]

I Europe this is called social dumping, and in some countries may be illegal depending on the new workers actual pay and working conditions.

 

[ghostofsparta]

No? In fact, they usually laugh at threats of unionization because there is always a glut of workers ready to replace you if you rock the boat.

Hmm maybe it's not tech companies saying it, but if you search "tech shortage" you'll get a ton of hits.

 

[Krejlooc]

Good, old Zero Hedge drumming up the anti-immigrant rhetoric.

I don't think this is anti-immigration rhetoric. Like, as I said earlier, I had my very first job outsourced, and I don't blame the immigrants one bit. Were I in their shoes, I'd be doing the same thing.

I blame the companies engaging in this practice, not the immigrants. Directing your anger towards immigrants is getting angry at a bunch of innocent people.

 

[exmachina64]

No? In fact, they usually laugh at threats of unionization because there is always a glut of workers ready to replace you if you rock the boat.

Yes, actually. Tech executives and lobbyists have spoken about a lack of U.S. workers for many years. Internally, there's the reality that workers can be easily replaced.

 

[BoosterDuck]

well it won't be hard to boycott Dell since their products suck ass and tend to short out anyways

 

[chadskin]

I don't think this is anti-immigration rhetoric. Like, as I said earlier, I had my very first job outsourced, and I don't blame the immigrants one bit. Were I in their shoes, I'd be doing the same thing.

I blame the companies engaging in this practice, not the immigrants. Directing your anger towards immigrants is getting angry at a bunch of innocent people.

Unmasking the Men Behind Zero Hedge, Wall Street's Renegade Blog

Lokey, who said he wrote much of the site’s political content, claimed there was pressure to frame issues in a way he felt was disingenuous. “I tried to inject as much truth as I could into my posts, but there’s no room for it. “Russia=good. Obama=idiot. Bashar al-Assad=benevolent leader. John Kerry= dunce. Vladimir Putin=greatest leader in the history of statecraft,” Lokey wrote, describing his take on the website's politics. Ivandjiiski countered that Lokey could write “anything and everything he wanted directly without anyone writing over it.”

“I can’t be a 24-hour cheerleader for Hezbollah, Moscow, Tehran, Beijing, and Trump anymore. It’ s wrong. Period. I know it gets you views now, but it will kill your brand over the long run,” Lokey texted Ivandjiiski. “This isn’t a revolution. It’s a joke.”

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

Surely there was some other source than zerohedge available. That site is a cesspool.

 

[WillyFive]

Good, old Zero Hedge drumming up the anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Who's the anti-immigrant other than the one blaming the immigrants instead of the actual problem: the American businessmen that fired the workers and got the visas?

 

[BasicMath]

Perfect timing for the presidential debates

It's one of the few reasons why I'm leaning towards Trump at the moment. Would love for Hillary to inevitably pick it up when/if this gets popular.

 

[BoosterDuck]

It's one of the few reasons why I'm leaning towards Trump at the moment. Would love for Hillary to inevitably pick it up when/if this gets popular.

Trump already outsources his products lol

 

[7DollarHagane]

I feel like the law should be if you terminate a us citizen and give a non-citizen a H1B within 3 months of the termination, the citizen gets the difference between his pay and the H1B worker's for one year. This is paid by the business.

Would give people who get terminated a lifeline, as well as discourage hiring lower paid workers.

 

[dakilla13]

I work as a software engineer for a company under EMC, now Dell. I know plenty of people overseas hired via EMC through H1-Bs and they aren't just outsourced cheap labor, but very skilled and intelligent people from all over the world. I imagine most people being laid off, as the article says, marketing / supply chain / etc, aren't having their positions filled by H1-B applicants, because those aren't the jobs these people are coming over to do: engineering / design / etc.

Coincidentally, I'm an American in the process of getting a visa to work in the UK through EMC.

I think this is being missed in this thread. H1-B workers from India are usually highly qualified and skilled. I don't think it's a 1:1 fire local hire H1-B worker for the same position in this case.

 

[Electric Eye]

This is how you feed nationalism and nativism you keep doing shit like this. But its Mexicans taking the jobs tho

 

[spwolf]

I work as a software engineer for a company under EMC, now Dell. I know plenty of people overseas hired via EMC through H1-Bs and they aren't just outsourced cheap labor, but very skilled and intelligent people from all over the world. I imagine most people being laid off, as the article says, marketing / supply chain / etc, aren't having their positions filled by H1-B applicants, because those aren't the jobs these people are coming over to do: engineering / design / etc.

Coincidentally, I'm an American in the process of getting a visa to work in the UK through EMC.

people see what they want to see. Article clearly states they are getting rid of office staff and not engineering.

On the other hand H1-B visa's are for Engineering not general office tasks.

My experience in US tech startups was that we get paid the same - based on skill set, no matter where we are from.