Watching C-SPAN this morning and listening to the guests Mark Krikorian, Center for Immigration Studies, Executive Director, and Laura Reiff, Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, Founder argue their perspectives on immigration and it's effect on labor and the economy reminded me of an email that's floating around....

"John Smith started the day early having set his Alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN ) for 6 a.m. While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA ) Was perking, he shaved with his Electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG )...He put on a Dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA ), Designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE ) And Tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA ) After cooking his breakfast in his new Electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA ) He sat down with his Calculator (MADE IN MEXICO ) To see how much he could spend today. After setting his Watch (MADE IN TAIWAN ) To the radio (MADE IN INDIA ) He got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY ) Filled it with GAS (from Saudi Arabia ) And continued his search For a good paying AMERICAN JOB. At the end Of yet another discouraging And fruitless day Checking his Computer (Made In Malaysia ), Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL ) Poured himself a glass of Wine (MADE IN FRANCE ) And turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA ), And then wondered Why he can't find A good paying job In AMERICA ... "

You have the "anti-immigration" side represented by Mark Krikorian arguing that the problem is business wants cheap labor. Laura Reiff representing what they call "immigration reform" arguing that business wants workers that are documented.

This got me to thinking you know how philosophical I can get...

It is my belief that the anti-immigration movement really does not take into account the effect their stance has on small business. They are convincing the poor, the underpaid, and the racist, looking for any cause that legitimizes their prejudice, that undocumented workers are the problem. Isn't the problem really the number of jobs that corporate America will outsource and offshore at the first chance they get?

You have CEO's of major corporations like AT&T's Randall Stephenson, singing the same old tired song he's been singing for the past few years about not being able to find qualified workers for jobs he wants to bring back to the US. Well cry me a river! The truth is AT&T is more than likely "over qualifying" for these positions. Requiring a degree or certification for jobs that don't need either. This may also be an industry recruitment problem.



I do love one brilliant perspective of the "hate the immigrants" baitors, Krikorian's argument that it is their(corporate America) sheer lack of motivation to contribute to, let alone encourage the education of more Americans to meet these hard to find "qualifications" they are seeking.

I'll take Krikorian's argument a step further, and let you know from my own personal experience with the telecom giant. They have an education reimbursement program in place. To qualify you have to major in certain areas of study. Some I had never heard of and found them useless. Your request has to be approved by your immediate supervisor and then their supervisor. You are allowed to pursue this "education" or degree program provided it does not interfere with "the needs of the business". So, if your supervisor doesn't approve your degree program, or even worse finds, though it is a valid field of study, the courses would interfere with "the needs of the business," you get no reimbursement for pursuing the degree.

One of the most atrocious things AT&T does (which gives insight into how much they really value educated and certified workers) is internally qualify technicians to work on all their high-tech networks, routers, and switches, but have no program in place to grant technicians needed certifications(CCSE, NCSE, etc). So that when they are displaced, surplused, or just sick of their horrible supervisor, they can't easily go to work for a company that requires certification for the same duties performed at AT&T for 10 or 20 years.

They are also disingenuous because they will take highly qualified IT applicants and place them in mundane positions, using software to monitor, analyze, and troubleshoot networks. Instead of placing them in their area of expertise. Prior to working for AT&T, I worked for over seven years as a software developer and DBA(C, Visual Basic, SQL server, etc.). When they hired me they placed me in a call center testing circuits. How stupid of a placement was that? I didn't complain because the job still paid in the low to mid 50's, but I never understood why a company that was beginning to grow as an ISP and needed software developers would put someone like me in such a mediocre position. I was not the only one, there were several of us, web developers and the like.

It may have been because the placement agency in Little Rock, AR, under pressure from the top, desperate to avoid legal recourse and meet supply demands of a growing LEC and ISP market, wanted anyone computer literate. Most of the developer jobs were in other states. Then they have this whole weird "management/non-management" caste culture. So a tech(non-management) making more than "management" had to have this top secret special access code(PIN) to apply for the IT(management) jobs. I'm sure you can guess...which had to be approved by your supervisor then by their supervisor. Are you getting the pattern? Get a supervisor that wants to hold you in their organization, and you will be stuck there until you quit or a new manager comes along.

Being an ambitious person, this was my overall problem with AT&T. Performers get praise and punishment. No chance at promotion. The inside joke amongst craft was if you want to go places with AT&T give low performance and perfect attendance (or have a good friend/relative in management). No one was holding the reigns of some of their rogue managers. They have management, that's been there 20 or more years, they know is a problem but refuse to eliminate. Being highly skilled and educated, I did what a lot of people would be afraid to do. I resigned. I could not take the horrible management team in the high volume call center ANY LONGER!! I'll gladly testify, if it had not been for the manager I would still be there.

Like a lot of former AT&T employees, I get lots of calls from recruiters to fill their contract positions. That experience with such a horrible person left a bad taste in my mouth. Now I know, a lot of people that have a passionate dislike for their former employer, it's not the company it's the BAD management.

"People don't leave bad jobs, they leave bad management."

And there are plenty of articles to support this...
MSNBC, Impact, Even in the UK