IP: FIRMS GO OUTSIDE BOX, TO CONGRESS TO SOLVE HIGH-TECH WORKER SHORTAGE from Educause

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

The high-tech industry continues to face a severe labor shortage
and is pushing Congress to allow more visas for skilled foreign
workers.  U.S. companies will be unable to fill more than 840,000
IT jobs this year, according to a study released this week by the
Information Technology Association of America.  Companies have
addressed this problem by offering high-tech training to their
own employees, students, and others already in the U.S.  For
example, Microsoft offers scholarships to students who excel at
math and science and provides tuition reimbursement for its own
workers.  High-tech firms have also turned to Congress to help
ease the labor shortage, and Congress responded in 1998 by
raising the number of H-1B visas from 65,000 to 115,000.  This
week Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary
immigration subcommittee, unveiled a proposal that would suspend
the cap on visas for foreign high-tech workers for the next three
years.  Due to insufficient data on how many H-1B visas are
needed, Smith says the high-tech companies should be free to
decide how many foreign workers they need.  However, Smith also
has reservations about the impact visas could have on American
workers. (Investor's Business Daily, 13 April 2000)