Microsoft tech recruiter says hiring for Vancouver Development Center has worn her out

In what I find to be a very unusual, maybe insensitive is a better word for it, blog post for Technical Careers @ Microsoft, Jenna Adorno writes that after receiving waves of questions on the Vancouver Development Center just opened by Microsoft, she has…

“every SDET [Software Design Engineer in Test]and SDE [Software Development Engineer] who was impacted by the H-1B visa cap, placed in a job in Vancouver.”

What about the impact on U.S. workers? Obviously, the impact on them was a bit different. It is not that they couldn’t get an H-1B but that they probably lost their job to someone who did get one.

If you recall, Microsoft announced that they would open up this Development Center in Canada, a stone’s throw from Redmond, because Canadian immigration laws, especially for those seeking a temporary visa, are far more lenient than U.S. law.

Microsoft stated that the purpose was so that they could hire qualified people from anywhere on the globe and bring them to Canada. A near-shoring idea that I said would probably spread like wildfire with many other companies.

So, I would like to know what about those unemployed SDEs and SDETs from the U.S. who were also “impacted” by the H-1B visa? Don’t U.S. workers also count when you want to hire qualified people from anywhere on the globe?

I’m sure many software engineers would be more than willing to either commute or move to Vancouver, a beautiful city by the way, if Microsoft hired them.

If Microsoft believes in fairness, and not just in lower wages for skilled IT people, then why aren’t they looking here as well. Why was Jenna Adorno worn out hiring these SDEs and SDETs and not worn out responding to dozens of applicants from here in the States?