H1B

[Jerry Feldman]

On Fri, 30 May 2003 14:32:42 -0400
Robert La Ferla <robertlaferla at attbi.com> wrote:

> I noticed this too.  Corporations want cheap labor to reduce costs and
> also because foreign labor is easier to exert authority over (i.e.
> don't complain or we'll kick you out of the country).  There was no
> shortage of labor but there was a shortage of cheap labor. 
> 
> As much as I prefer this mailing list to stick to technical Linux
> matters, I must say that this issue is an important one.  I too am
> angry at the whole situation.  Like many of you, I saw it coming but
> there was little that could be done at the time.  Everyone was too
> busy making money in the boom that they could care less about the
> distant future.  Now, that the future has arrived, everyone is looking
> back and looking for solutions.  It's a good idea to not support
> corporations that engage in such practices.  It's a good idea to write
> to your congressmen and let them know how you feel now and how they
> will feel in the 2004 election.
Over the years, I've worked with some managers who have dealt with
numbers of foreign workers. One of my friends told me that he had to be
very specific because they tend to take instructions much more literally
than American workers. In general, you can tell an American worker (eg.
someone who grew up in our culture) to do something in some general
terms and expect a reasonable job. A foreign worker might take you
literally, and do exactly what he (or she) perceives you to be saying.
Part of this is cultural, and part is the understanding of idiomatic
english. Another related problem was what Digital had with the Unix
tools group in India. They would receive a problem report, and fix the
problem. While that might appear all well and good, they would not
question to correctness of the defect report. Result, problems would get
fixed and in doing so, some feature would be broken. The solution was
that all problem reports were first reviewed, and then more specific
specifications would be sent to India. Additionally, while I mentioned
India specifically, there are problems with other cultural groups. 
-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Boston Linux and Unix user group
http://www.blu.org PGP key id:C5061EA9
PGP Key fingerprint:053C 73EC 3AC1 5C44 3E14 9245 FB00 3ED5 C506 1EA9
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