Microsoft cutting American jobs
January 29, 2009
Microsoft announced it will be eliminating 5,000 employees over the next 18 months with an immediate dismissal of 1,400. CNet News informs us that Senator Grassley is at least one elected official concerned about American employees:
Microsoft has been urged by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), a leading critic of the H-1B program, to protect the jobs of U.S. workers over foreign workers. In a letter last week to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Grassley demanded that U.S. workers get priority in keeping their jobs.
Legally, as the article explains, Microsoft has to treat H-1B employees as equal to all other employees. Grassley’s emphasis is that Microsoft may have a “moral obligation” to keep as many American citizens employed as they can rather than preserving the visa holders.
