San Diego’s Qualcomm is the fifth-largest user of H-1B talent

Irwin Jacobs chimes in about immigration reform - http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/mar/08/qualco… How convenient that what he wants just happens to reduce workers salaries and puts more money in the Jacobs family pockets....
— March 12, 2013 9:08 p.m.

San Diego’s Qualcomm is the fifth-largest user of H-1B talent

Jacobs meets with Obama to push for more H-1B Visas: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/06/Qualco… You would think that being given 10,000 H-1B Visas in 10 years for a workforce of only 12,000 people would be enough. But Jacobs redefines corporate greed. It's kind of satisfying to see Qualcomm mentioned in the same breath as Goldman Sachs though as it makes it clear what Qualcomm is all about...
— February 7, 2013 10:30 p.m.

San Diego’s Qualcomm is the fifth-largest user of H-1B talent

Don, earlier we discussed the stunning possibility that Qualcomm is actually a net generator of tech labor into this region rather than a net consumer of American jobs. Here is one data point that backs up this claim: According to money magazine, Qualcomm employment increased 6% in 2012 and the company added 794 new jobs. It further states that turnover also ran about 6% which equates to another ~800 new hires: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-compa… H-1B statistics show that Qualcomm received 1600 H1B Visas in 2012: http://www.myvisajobs.com/Visa-Sponsor/Qualcomm/4… In other words, 6% of the company left to take jobs elsewhere (probably most in San Diego) these openings along with the other 800 new jobs went largely to foreigners. Mathematically this means that Qualcomm was a net generator of ~800 workers into this region in 2012 rather than a consumer of labor. As a side note, Money magazine also shows that the company received 82,000 job applications in 2012. This clearly shows how American workers are left to play on the companies career website while the jobs go to foreigners.
— January 18, 2013 9:33 a.m.

San Diego’s Qualcomm is the fifth-largest user of H-1B talent

There is one way - Qualcomm and many other tech monopolies use foreign workers in their equal opportunity headcounts. This in itself should be grounds for someone to go to prison... Some of the big tech companies in the bay area are being sued to divulge the actual numbers of foreigners because of lawsuits that they are discriminating against American minorities while distorting the equal opportunity headcounts. I'd love to see that happen to Qualcomm, because I have no doubt that they have the highest percentage of foreign workers of any US tech company.
— January 17, 2013 10:29 p.m.

San Diego’s Qualcomm is the fifth-largest user of H-1B talent

wow is right. Here is an oldie but goodie article that gives some insight into what went on at Boeing. The amazing thing is that a white paper by one of their senior technical engineers told them not to outsource manufacturing because he had seen it kill McDonnell Douglas but they did it anyway. One of the chief execs that made that decision is now CEO of Ford. The new exec put the cost to cleanup the outsourcing mess at 2-3x what it would have cost to build the plane domestically and this was before the current fiasco and groundings. http://seattletimes.com/html/sundaybuzz/201412541…
— January 17, 2013 10:18 p.m.

San Diego’s Qualcomm is the fifth-largest user of H-1B talent

Below is a recent article that I thought I would share. I think most people remember Cringeley's articles in Computerworld and the other trade magazines during the PC go-go years. At that time he was in the know about the inner workings of most companies and he talked shop with many CEOs. His articles were always on the money and well thought out (as are Don's). He recently came out with a well researched H-1B article that is scathing about what is going on in this country - http://www.cringely.com/2012/10/23/what-americans…
— January 16, 2013 9:13 p.m.

San Diego’s Qualcomm is the fifth-largest user of H-1B talent

Interesting, I hadn't heard the Greenspan comment about the superrich being a problem. From what I'm seeing their policies of holding wages down have been distorted by companies seeking to completely marginalize the field and force everyone into serfdom.
— January 16, 2013 9:03 p.m.

San Diego’s Qualcomm is the fifth-largest user of H-1B talent

Thanks guys, I'll definitely try to contribute more in the future. But as an increasingly marginalized engineer I have no time anymore. I work long days and often on weekends. I wish that I had seen this coming and that I studied something other than Computer Science. Speaking of those college years in the '80s. It's hard to believe but Americans flocked to engineering and CS programs by the droves back then. Engineering programs at UCSD and all of the other colleges were heavily impacted by over enrollment by AMERICAN students. Mainly because of the viewpoint that engineering was a good career and represented good paying jobs. Have times ever changed...
— January 16, 2013 8:56 p.m.

San Diego’s Qualcomm is the fifth-largest user of H-1B talent

Don, I totally agree. I'm not anti-immigration or anti-Indian. Many of my friends are Indian and I don't begrudge them for wanting to come to this country for a better life. What I begrudge is the fact that Corporations and Wall Street have such leverage that they are able to bring in massive foreign labor and displace so many Americans in the process. It's not immigration per se that is the problem, it's the volume of immigration and how it's being so massively exploited by corporations. As bad as it is here, it's much worse in Canada. Diversity has been a strength of this country and something that I liked about the engineering profession in past decades. Unfortunately what we have is anything but diversity. Engineering at companies such as Qualcomm has become monolithically Indian, most of the hiring managers are Indian and unfortunately it's an uphill battle for an American engineer to be hired into these new corporate environments. One comment though, you mentioned that both Obama and Bush wanted sensible immigration policies. Both Obama and Bush's definition of "sensible" is a massive increase in skilled immigration. Neither president have recognized how badly the H-1B program has hurt innovation in this country (to say nothing of American STEM workers who have been sold out). Both presidents pushed for more of the same (Obama supports the staple a Green Card to diploma policy).
— January 16, 2013 8:49 p.m.

San Diego’s Qualcomm is the fifth-largest user of H-1B talent

Don, I noticed that you referenced the Greenspan comments. His claim was that the US pays the highest rates for skilled labor in the world. A claim that is not true as many industrialized countries are higher (notably Europe). What he really should have focused on was the executive compensation in the US vs the rest of the world which is insane. Before becoming an engineer I realized that being unskilled in America is a bad place to be. There is too much competition for unskilled jobs from illegal immigration. Construction for example used to be a reasonable profession, but no longer. So I went to school on my own dime, worked my tail off in order to become successful in this field only to find that Wall Street hacks like Greenspan begrudge my earnings and want to take more of it for themselves.
— January 15, 2013 10:37 p.m.