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Submission + - The root of Trump's problem with H-1B visa and how he may attack it (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: The Trump administration's dissatisfaction with the H-1B program traces back to mass IT layoffs in 2015. Visa workers were being used to engineer mass layoffs, and this practice spread rapidly into new areas, such as university IT shops. IT workers, required to train their replacements and bound by NDAs, questioned how an immigration program could cost them their jobs. They believed this was entirely un-American and an abuse of the H-1B visa program. But some IT workers still manage to protest. One of the most striking occurred at Northeast Utilities (now Eversource) in Connecticut, where IT workers hung American flags outside their cubicles.

At the same time, the tech industry pushed the narrative that "H-1B workers complement — instead of displace — U.S. workers," a blatant untruth.

The second Trump administration will not likely give Elon Musk everything he wants. In his first term, Trump tried to raise visa costs with a wage-based distribution system that could prioritize higher-paying jobs, benefiting tech giants like Tesla and Google. By raising the costs of visa workers, Trump can undercut the visa's underlying business model. Senators Grassley (R-Iowa) and Durbin (D-Ill.) may push restrictions to stop companies from replacing U.S. workers with H-1B holders. Trump might also aim to simplify green card access for U.S. grads.

Trump's challenge will be balancing the demands of IT workers and its MAGA supporters, who see H-1B as a cheap labor pipeline, with the tech industry's reliance on foreign talent. The indication is that he will do this by attacking visa wage thresholds.

Submission + - Trump's federal cuts threaten diversity gains for veterans, Black tech workers (techtarget.com) 2

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: Federal workforce diversity is at risk under President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts. The federal government employs more underrepresented groups in tech roles than Silicon Valley, including over 25% Black workers in technical positions compared to 8% in the private sector. Critics warn the cuts could undermine pathways for marginalized groups and veterans, increasing unemployment and limiting job opportunities for these communities. Veterans make up 30% of the federal workforce, with 53% of them having a disability, and could be disproportionately affected by Trump's plan to cut the workforce by up to 50%.

Submission + - GM's automated recruiting goal: From 60 days to 60 minutes (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: General Motors is implementing AI-driven recruiting automation to reduce hiring times for hourly workers from 60 days to 60 minutes. Using Paradox's AI tools and a virtual assistant named EV-e, GM has already cut interview scheduling times from 5-7 days to approximately 16 minutes. The company plans to further automate the hiring process for roles that don't require interviews, though recruiters will remain involved in final steps such as offer approvals and background checks. GM's global head of candidate experience reports that the automation has allowed an 80% reduction in scheduling contractor staff. However, Gartner analysts suggest fully automated recruiting that could replace human recruiters is still 5-10 years away.

Submission + - Kamala Harris approach on the H-1B issue is mostly silence (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: Vice President Kamala Harris risks repeating a critical error from Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign with respect to the H-1B visa. With strong financial backing from Silicon Valley VCs and businesses keen on expanding the H-1B visa program, Clinton remained mostly silent on the issue, ultimately alienating IT workers concerned about job security. Harris, supported by over 200 Silicon Valley venture capitalists, mirrors Clinton's approach. She has also not addressed the implications of H-1B visas and offshore outsourcing on American jobs.

In 2016, Clinton's approach allowed Donald Trump to capitalize on the concerns of displaced IT workers. Trump gave these workers a platform at his rallies, promising reforms that resonated in key swing states like Florida and Pennsylvania, contributing to Clinton's narrow losses.

The Biden administration has shifted focus towards increasing green cards rather than reforming the H-1B visa program, which is still heavily utilized by IT services for offshoring jobs. If Harris doesn't address these issues it could lead to similar electoral consequences as those faced by Clinton in 2016, especially as the tech job market continues to evolve and college enrollments in computer science rise. However, the rise in undergraduate CS enrollments (mostly domestic students) could draw some opposition to Trump. Trump, who has picked up Silicon Valley support from some VCs and Elon Musk, is proposing giving green cards to STEM grads from junior colleges on up. This has the potential of discouraging domestic undergraduates if foreign student enrollments rise.

Submission + - Rising Temperatures and Heat Shocks Prompt Job Relocations, Study Finds (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: A recent study in the National Bureau of Economic Research has found that companies are quietly adapting to rising temperatures by shifting operations from hotter to cooler locations.

The researchers analyzed data from 50,000 companies between 2009 and 2020. To illustrate the economic impact, the researchers found that when a company with equal employment across two counties experiences a heat shock in one county, there is a subsequent 0.7% increase in employment growth in the unaffected county over a three-year horizon. The finding is significant, given that the mean employment growth for the sample of businesses in the study is 2.4%.

Heat shocks are characterized by their severe impact on health, energy grids, and increased fire risks, are influencing companies with multiple locations to reconsider their geographical distribution of operations.

Despite this trend, states like Arizona and Nevada, which have some of the highest heat-related death tolls, continue to experience rapid business expansion. Experts believe that factors such as labor pool, taxes, and regulations still outweigh environmental climate risks when it comes to business site selection. But heat associated deaths are on the rise. In the Phoenix area alone, it experienced 425 heat related deaths in 2022 and a similar number in 2023, record highs for this region.

The study suggests that the implications of climate change on business operations are becoming more apparent. Companies are beginning to evaluate climate risks as part of their regular risk assessment process.

Submission + - Supreme Court rejects IT worker challenge of OPT program (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday declined to hear a challenge against the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which allows STEM graduates to work in the U.S. for up to three years on a student F-1 visa. John Miano, the attorney representing WashTech, the labor group that brought the appeal, called the decision "staggering." He said it “strips Congress of the ability to control nonimmigrant programs,” such as OPT, the H-1B program, and other programs designed to provide temporary guest workers.

In the most extreme example of what the decision may allow, Miano said it theoretically enables the White House to let people on tourist visas work. The decision "gives more authority to the federal government to do what it wants," he said.

The OPT program permits STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) graduates to work for up to three years under a student F-1 visa. Critics of the program said it brought unfair competition to the U.S. labor market. Ron Hira, an associate professor of Public Policy at Howard University, said the U.S. administration of the OPT program is so poor that "the program has effectively no controls, accountability, or worker protections."

A group of Senate Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, argued in briefs filed with the court that the federal government was using the OPT program to sidestep the annual H-1B visa cap. More than 30 Republican House members also filed a brief in support.

Comment off the rails (Score 0) 79

ICANN went off the rails a few years after it was created. After accomplishing its primary mission of opening up domain registrations, it lost its way. Despite the use of the word "Internet" in their name, they meet globally three times a year. recent places include Hamburg, DC, Cancun, Kuala Lumpur, The Hague, San Juan, Seattle, Montreal, Kobe, Barcelona, and Panama City. It has a "funded traveler" policy, paying hotel and $85 per diem for meals and travel, which cost it millions annually. It's a good deal if you're part of the community. ICANN uses its ability to create TLDs for any word in the dictionary, giving it a new revenue source. I don't know what this current dispute is about, but seriously doubt it upset the Internet or ICANN's operations to generate new sources of revenue to fund its travel.

Submission + - Federal HQ buildings only used at 25% of capacity (techtarget.com) 1

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: According to federal officials at a U.S. House hearing Thursday, the monumental federal buildings in Washington are largely empty, with some agencies using 25% or less of their headquarters' building capacity on average. The government owns some 511 million of square feet of office space, and capacity problems open the door to the possibility of conversions to housing or commercial uses. Commercial resuse has happened before. In 2013, the General Services Administration leased the Old Post Office Building at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., to the Trump organization for a hotel. "The taxpayer is quite literally paying to keep the lights on even when no one is home,Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who chair the infrastructure subcommittee meeting. The blame for the low utilization has several causes: A shift to hybrid work, out-of-date buildings that waste space, and designs before technology reduced the need for certain types of workers. The Republicans want federal workers to return to offices and reduce telecommuting to at least pre-pandemic levels. In February, the House passed H.R. 139, the Stopping Home Office Work's Unproductive Problems Act of 2023 — or the Show Up Act — requiring agencies to revert to 2019 pre-pandemic telework policies. A companion bill, S. 1565, is pending in the Senate. It has six Republican sponsors but no Democrats.

Submission + - Generative AI systems boost productivity, retention, says study (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: A National Bureau of Economic Research study found that generative AI boosts productivity by 14%, reduces stress, and increases employee retention in customer support roles. The workers who gained the most from this automation were newer and less experienced. Customer support is a stressful job. "A key part of agents' jobs is to absorb customer frustrations while restraining one's own emotional reaction," the paper noted. But generative AI can act as an aide, using the customer's chats as input and providing suggestions for empathetic responses and problem-solving in real-time. The study found that generative AI reduced the likelihood of customers wanting to escalate issues to a supervisor. But it's just one study, caution analyst. David Creelman, CEO of Creelman Research in Toronto, cautioned against putting too much weight on one study. "It's too soon to start making conclusions about where this will have an impact and how big that impact will be," he said.

Submission + - Nearly 40% of software engineers will only work remotely (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: Despite the demand of employers like Apple
  Amazon, Microsoft
, AT&T
and others, nearly 40% of software engineers preferred only remote roles, and if their employers mandated a return to the office, 21% indicated they would quit immediately, while another 49% said they would start looking for another job, according to Hired's 2023 State of Software Engineers. This report gathered its data from 68,500 software engineering candidates and a survey of more than 1,300 software engineers and 120 talent professionals. Employers open to remote workers "are able to get better-quality talent that's a better fit for the organization," said Josh Brenner, CEO of Hired, a job-matching platform for technology jobs.

Submission + - Employee background check errors harm thousands of workers (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: Criminal background checks that incorrectly identify an applicant as a thief or sex offender happen more often than many expect. This story reviewed more than 75 lawsuits against background checks firms, spoke with plaintiff attorneys and industry experts to paint a picture of an industry that can ruin lives in minutes. Job applicants are labeled thieves and sex offenders by incorrect reports, and job candidates may protest, but it may not do them any good. Employers may drop them as damaged goods before the correction.

Submission + - Japan's ARM supercomputer leads world in Top500, exascale expected in 2021 (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: Japan's Fugaku ARM-based supercomputer is the world's most powerful in the latest Top500 list, setting a world record of 442 petaflops. But this was otherwise an unremarkable year for supercomputers, with a "flattening performance curve," said Jack Dongarra, one of the academics behind the twice-a-year ranking and director of the Innovative Computing Laboratory at the University of Tennessee. This is a result of Moore's Law slowing down as well as a slowdown in the replacement of older systems, he said. But the U.S. is set to deliver an exascale system — 1,000 petaflops — next year and China as well. Meanwhile, the EU has a 550 petaflop system in development in Finland

Submission + - Employers warn of rising political tensions at work (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: A significant number of employees are avoiding co-workers because of political views, says one research group. "Not only are employees avoiding one another, but they're also having a tougher time staying focused," said Brent Cassell, a Gartner analyst. They firm, which has surveyed workers, say the office tensions over politics are at their highest level. Firms are also on guard against the possibility of workplace disruptions and arguments. In Florida, a battleground state, there's a lot of concern about rising office tensions. "I think we're going to see an interesting atmosphere over the next couple of weeks," said Heather Deyrieux, president of the HR Florida State Council.

Comment Who is your meritocracy now, punk? (Score 1) 342

by dcblogs (#60043576) Attached to: Should Colleges Preserve the Idea of Meritocracy?
There is a high school grad near me accepted to every Ivy. Comes from modest means. Is she part of the meritocracy? No, she is just bright, highly motivated. Meritocracy is not binary. People in the so-call meritocracy aren't necessarily moral. Education doesn't necessarily build character. Someone who just finished Marine, Army, Navy, Air Force boot camp has demonstrated character and resolve to finish a hard test, and also made the choice to serve a cause greater than themselves. Can't same the same for guys who go to prep school to good university and then to the supreme court. The meritocracy is kind of useless at this point. The most important people in the world right now are working as nurses and doctors in hospitals. Talk about courage. To paraphrase another do it yourselfer: Who is your meritocracy now, punk? Honestly, what meritocracy? I don't care what your politics are, but I think there's near universal recognition that we have a bunch of second raters and phonies managing this country right now. The stupid has taken over. The meritocracy is moving to New Zealand.

Submission + - Federal workforce too reliant on college degrees, says Trump administration (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: In the federal government, approximately 30% of the 2.1 million civilian employees have a master's degree or above. That's compared to about 15% at large firms in the private sector, according to the White House's 2021 budget. The federal workforce is also older than the private sector. The average age of federal workers is 46, versus 42 for all others. The age gap is most acute for the youngest workers, with only 7.3% of the federal workforce younger than age 30 compared to 23% of private sector workers. "Over-reliance on degrees can be a barrier to entry" to federal jobs, the White House argued. Others disagree and say that many government jobs, such as economists and attorneys, require advanced degrees.

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