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Computerworld
®
The Voice of Business Technology
september 2015
computerworld.com
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NothiNg is EvEr ComplEtEly outsourCEd
6
oldEr it pros pushEd AsidE By youNgEr h-1B WorkErs
3
Vol. 2, No. 2
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COMPUTERWORLD
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Ellen Fanning
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Features editor
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Table
of
Contents
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Rebecca Linke
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Contributing editors
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News ANAlysis 3
Age discrimination
may be at the heart of the
H-1b controversy.
| opiNioNs 6
Bart Perkins
reminds us that
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| 43
Thornton May
says It
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| depArtmeNts 9
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I l l u s t r at I o n s b y J a m e s ya n g
Sep tember 201 5
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2
News ANAlysis
it CAreers
Older IT Pros Pushed Aside
By Younger H-1B Workers
H-1b visas go primarily to people who are under 35, suggesting that
the threat of age discrimination may be central to much of the hostility
surrounding the controversial program.
By PaTrick ThiBodeau
Christopher Ames / Getty imAGes
T
sparks debate on
many fronts, but age
may be at the heart
of the discord: The foreign
workers who use the visa to
come to the U.S. are over-
whelmingly young.
he h-1B visa
program
Of all the H-1B applications
approved by the U.S. last year,
nearly 75% were for people who
were 34 years old or younger. Of
that group, 38% were 29 years
old or younger, according to
government data.
Does H-1B use affect the
composition of workforces?
It’s hard to say. In recent years,
many major technology compa-
nies — including Apple, Google,
Microsoft, Salesforce and Face-
book — have been reporting the
demographics of their person-
nel because they’re aware of the
importance of diversity, but they
haven’t included data about the
age range of their employees.
But when tech industry lead-
ers argue that employers need
more H-1B workers, they are
also — by extension — calling
for younger IT professionals.
Age and the H-1B can’t be sepa-
rated. What impact is this hav-
ing on older tech workers?
Much of the discussion of the
3
Sep tember 201 5
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News ANAlysis
it CAreers
H-1B visa focuses on cases of
displacement, such as the situ-
ations at Disney and Southern
California Edison (SCE), where
offshore providers of IT services
brought in H-1B workers who
were then trained by soon-to-be
replaced U.S. workers.
But these headline-grabbing
employers are hiring younger
H-1Bs instead of older u.s.
citizens and permanent
residents. i see it happen
all the time.
No r m mAtlof f,
co mp uter s c ien c e pr o fess o r, uc Dav i s
aren’t hiring H-1B workers to
replace their U.S. workers. But
the visa-holders are certainly
crowding out other workers,
according to a study that com-
pared workforce composition at
companies that won the H-1B
visa lottery with employee de-
mographics at those that lost.
The paper — by researchers at
the University of California,
the University of Notre Dame
and the U.S. Department of the
Treasury — suggests that H-1B
workers are paid less.
‘Not a Good Fit’
incidents may be deflecting at-
tention from what some see as
the core issue of the H-1B de-
bate: age discrimination. Many
of those displaced at Disney and
SCE were older, certainly above
35, say affected employees.
Many technology companies,
unlike offshore outsourcers,
“Employers are hiring younger
H-1Bs instead of older U.S. citi-
zens and permanent residents,”
said Norm Matloff, a computer
science professor at UC Davis,
and a longtime researcher and
critic of the H-1B program.
If there’s a single underlying
issue related to H-1B use, it is
the age issue, says Matloff.
“I see it happen all the time,
where young foreign students
of mine apply for the same jobs
as older Americans who I know
are much better qualified,” said
Matloff. “The foreign students
wind up getting hired, with the
Americans rejected under the
catch-all excuse, ‘Not a good fit.’”
When U.S. workers are forced
to train replacements who hold
H-1Bs, there’s a clear connection
between government visa policy
and job loss. Age discrimination
may not be as obvious.
An age discrimination law-
suit was filed against Google
this year by two older workers,
who had sought jobs at the com-
pany and weren’t hired. One
woman was recruited by Google
four times, did well on the ini-
tial phone interviews and was
invited to in-person interviews.
Each time she was rejected.
The lawsuit claims that the
median age at Google is 29. It
is based on data from PayScale,
a benefits and compensation
4
Sep tember 201 5
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News ANAlysis
it CAreers
research company. That data
— culled from 840 profiles of
full-time employees — also
shows that the median age at
Facebook is 28. Employers with
older workers, such as they are,
include IBM Global Services,
where the median was 38, and
Hewlett-Packard, with a medi-
an age of 41 — the closest to the
median age of the U.S. work-
force as a whole, which is 42.3.
The apparent bias in favor of
younger people may have noth-
ing to do with expertise. “When
one looks at the actual skills
needed in the large majority of
to argue that
[H-1B holders
are] more
skilled is so
far unproven.
H Al sA l zmA N ,
profe ssor o f p l an ni n g
anD publ ic p o li cy,
rutg ers u n iv er s i ty
jobs in this industry, it is not for
the newest, cutting-edge pro-
gramming languages or apps,”
said Hal Salzman, professor of
planning and public policy at
Rutgers University. “Rather, it’s
for the more workaday program-
ming skills and languages need-
ed for large systems and PCs.”
Certainly some H-1B holders
are highly talented, but that’s
not true for most of them, said
Salzman. “To argue that this
population in particular is — on
average, or for the large major-
ity — more skilled is so far un-
proven,” he said.
It’s not just the H-1B visa that
is getting attention. In 2008,
the U.S. extended the 12-month
Optional Practical Training
(OPT) program to 29 months
for students studying STEM
(science, technology, engineer-
ing and math) subject matter.
This program allows people
from other countries to work in
the U.S. on student visas, with-
BetweeN tHe liNes
|
JoHN KlossNer
out the benefits of an H-1B visa,
such as a guarantee that they’ll
be paid the prevailing wage.
“The industry likes young,
controllable workers,” said John
Miano, the founder of the Pro-
grammers Guild, who is now an
attorney. He has been represent-
ing the Washington Alliance of
Technology Workers in a lawsuit
challenging the OPT extension.
“OPT and H-1B are both mecha-
nisms industry uses to get that
kind of labor. OPT creates an
unlimited supply of young work-
ers into the job market.”
u
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