Three US tech worker groups have launched a labour boycott of IBM, Infosys and Manpower.
Bright Future Jobs, the Programmers Guild and WashTech claim that the outfits discourage US workers from applying for US IT jobs by tailoring employment ads toward overseas workers, writes Nick Farrell.
In one case a Manpower subsidiary has advertised for Indian IT workers to come to the US for openings anticipated more than a year in advance. The advertisements in India are being placed even though the nature of the tech industry is so fast-paced that staffing projections cannot be adequately foreseen.
Not surprisingly the three groups believe that companies should look first for US workers to fill US IT jobs.
The main goals of the boycott are “attention getting” and putting pressure on the IT staffing firms to change their practice.
Infosys denied that it avoids recruiting US IT workers and pointed to job adverts for 440 active openings across 20 states in the US. Many of the jobs require a US master’s degree in business administration.
However there is a general concern that tech companies are lobbying for a relaxation of visa restrictions to cope with a “tech skills shortage” which is not really there. Instead they are bringing in foreign developers who are cheaper than their US counterparts.
