Let’s call Gates’ bluff on H-1Bs

The H-1B news out of Washington this week as reported on InfoWorld’s site, is that the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service (USCIS) expects application for the 65,000 H-1Bs available to be filled in days this year instead of weeks or months as in the past.

According to the news story, “technology companies have long been proponents of a higher cap, saying they would like to see the cap almost twice as high as it is now. The Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), whose backers include Apple, Dell, eBay, and Intel, last year asked that the cap be raised to 115,000.”

Here’s what Bill Gates had to say at last months hearing on the subject, as reported in sister publicaton Network World.

“In a statement sure to bring the wrath of US job proponents everywhere, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates went a-calling on U.S. Congress today to tell them that the country’s economic future was at sake if they don’t raise the cap on skilled-worker visas, to something closer to 300,000.”

“Gates told the Senate Health Education Labor and Pension Committee that the country is facing an “acute crisis” in its shortage of engineering professionals…”

So if what Bill Gates and other CEOs say is true, an “acute crisis” looms, then shouldn’t we expect a major downturn in new technology development and research from Microsoft and other high tech vendors?

Maybe there will be no Office 8, heaven forbid!

I say, let’s call their bluff. We should send emails and ask Gates and Intel’s Paul Otellini among others to tell us what projects are being postponed or cancelled due to lack of talented software engineers, programmers and project managers?

My guess is there would be a long pause. The only reason projects might be cancelled is due to the fact that they will have to pay higher wages to U.S. workers.