Microsoft Refuses Senator's Request to Cut Foreign Workers
Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 12:39 pm
Microsoft Refuses Senator's Request to Cut Foreign Workers First
by: Jason Mick
Company says its job cuts are unbiased and will be based on necessity and performance
After missing its earnings forecasts, Microsoft was forced to make job cuts -- 5,000 to be exact --- to placate shareholders. The discussion has turned increasingly ugly in past weeks.
First, Sen. Charles Grassley, a senior Republican Senator from Iowa, where Microsoft has a significant presence, wrote the company and suggested that they lay off foreigners before Americans. Then Microsoft revealed that it had paid its fired employees too much severance pay and wanted them to return part of their severance checks. It at last relented after a series of scathing reports in online and print news.
Now Microsoft is back to talking about its job cuts and is taking another controversial stance. It is defying Sen. Grassley's request and has released a statement to the Senator and the public, informing them that the cuts will be entirely unbiased.
While Microsoft will cut approximately 5 percent of its workforce, it says its number of foreign workers on H1-B visas will remain approximately the same. Microsoft General Counsel Bradford Smith writes, "We do not expect to see a significant change in the proportion of H-1B employees in our workforce following the job reductions. The potential to tap into the world's best minds has long been essential to our success."
Sen. Grassley has already gone on record to state his dissatisfaction with Microsoft response. He states, "I'm still left without much information about how Microsoft is ensuring American workers are being protected or specifics of its H-1B visa hiring practices."
In Mr. Smith's letter, he says that approximately 15 percent of Microsoft's workforce consists of H-1B employees -- this, and his previous comments seem to indicate that most of the cuts will be coming from Microsoft's American employees.
Microsoft has long championed the H1-B visa program. It has consistently urged Congress to rethink the H1-B limits and allow more foreign workers into America. It says that its H1-B workers are a key to its success.
While Microsoft is firing some workers, it is also hiring others, so it says the net impact will only be 2,000 to 3,000 fewer jobs.
While Microsoft's letter certainly provides an enlightening response on the cuts, it falls short of the detailed breakdown of how many H1-B jobs were being cut versus jobs of American citizens, which Sen. Grassley demanded of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Senator Grassley is the ranking Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee.
by: Jason Mick
Company says its job cuts are unbiased and will be based on necessity and performance
After missing its earnings forecasts, Microsoft was forced to make job cuts -- 5,000 to be exact --- to placate shareholders. The discussion has turned increasingly ugly in past weeks.
First, Sen. Charles Grassley, a senior Republican Senator from Iowa, where Microsoft has a significant presence, wrote the company and suggested that they lay off foreigners before Americans. Then Microsoft revealed that it had paid its fired employees too much severance pay and wanted them to return part of their severance checks. It at last relented after a series of scathing reports in online and print news.
Now Microsoft is back to talking about its job cuts and is taking another controversial stance. It is defying Sen. Grassley's request and has released a statement to the Senator and the public, informing them that the cuts will be entirely unbiased.
While Microsoft will cut approximately 5 percent of its workforce, it says its number of foreign workers on H1-B visas will remain approximately the same. Microsoft General Counsel Bradford Smith writes, "We do not expect to see a significant change in the proportion of H-1B employees in our workforce following the job reductions. The potential to tap into the world's best minds has long been essential to our success."
Sen. Grassley has already gone on record to state his dissatisfaction with Microsoft response. He states, "I'm still left without much information about how Microsoft is ensuring American workers are being protected or specifics of its H-1B visa hiring practices."
In Mr. Smith's letter, he says that approximately 15 percent of Microsoft's workforce consists of H-1B employees -- this, and his previous comments seem to indicate that most of the cuts will be coming from Microsoft's American employees.
Microsoft has long championed the H1-B visa program. It has consistently urged Congress to rethink the H1-B limits and allow more foreign workers into America. It says that its H1-B workers are a key to its success.
While Microsoft is firing some workers, it is also hiring others, so it says the net impact will only be 2,000 to 3,000 fewer jobs.
While Microsoft's letter certainly provides an enlightening response on the cuts, it falls short of the detailed breakdown of how many H1-B jobs were being cut versus jobs of American citizens, which Sen. Grassley demanded of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Senator Grassley is the ranking Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee.