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High-Skilled Immigration Must be Part of Comprehensive Reform
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Posted by Fred Humphries
Managing Director U.S. Government Affairs
Today marks an important new beginning for efforts to repair the United States’ flawed immigration system. We at Microsoft congratulate President Obama for convening a bipartisan meeting at the White House on immigration reform, and commend the members of Congress who participated. Most immigration experts agree our system needs big changes, so I’m pleased to see the broad participation in this important process.
Nonetheless, we remain concerned that a serious discussion of high-skilled immigration policies has not yet begun, and we believe it must be included in any comprehensive reform. If the U.S. is to remain at the cutting edge of innovation, we must ensure that our businesses can attract and hire the best talent from around the globe.
As Brad Smith blogged earlier this year, immigration policies that attract highly-skilled workers are critical for job creation and long-term economic growth. America’s economic recovery will come from innovation within America’s borders – in its laboratories, board rooms and research centers. By giving American businesses access to the talent they need, they will be able to grow and generate additional American jobs. The more bright minds who contribute to innovation on American soil, the faster our country will return to a position of economic strength.
Now more than ever, we need smart policies to build the innovation workforce of the future.
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Appreciating our Immigration System
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UPDATE: April 1, 2009 - 10:30 a.m. Pacific
Posted by Brad Smith
General Counsel
As I mentioned in my post Monday, today begins the period for U.S. employers to apply for H-1B visas for high-skilled foreign workers.
Given the economic downturn, we are filing substantially fewer H-1B applications than we filed last year. Unlike previous years, a solid majority of our applications this year are for employees who are already working for Microsoft in the United States, so we can retain their talent and specialized skills in this country rather than risk losing them to a foreign competitor.
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Economic Hard Times and the Global Technology Workforce
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Posted by David Bowermaster
Administrator, Microsoft on the Issues
Microsoft is not sheltered from the unprecedented crisis battering the global economy. In response to challenges we are confronting in markets around the world, we announced last month that we would cut jobs and reduce our overall employment level for the first time. This was a difficult decision, and it was not one we made lightly. But the long-term health of the company – like the financial fate of the country as a whole – requires prompt and decisive action to adapt to the changed economic reality. On January 22, Sen. Charles Grassley wrote to us asking for more information, particularly about how our plans would affect U.S. workers and non-U.S. citizens working for Microsoft. Click Read More to see the full text of our response:
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