| | By Darleen Hartley @ Wednesday, March 04, 2009 6:22 AM
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| | How big do you have to be to ignore a US senator’s written request? Does the name Microsoft come to mind? The company, oh so politely, told the senator to buzz off. In a January letter to Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer, US Senator Grassley said he wanted assurance that US citizens would be given priority over foreigners working under a H-1B visa during Microsoft’s planned layoffs. He said, “I am concerned that Microsoft will be retaining foreign guest workers rather than similarly qualified American employees.”
 Ballmer’s reply to Grassley (left) came from Microsoft’s senior vice president and general counsel Brad Smith who heads the company's Department of Legal and Corporate Affairs. Essentially his reply, though couched in the most professional manner, indicated that the company was doing it their way. The Counselor landed a few punches, criticising the H-1B program and the lack of US citizens with adequate education.
His statement opened the topic thusly: The country’s long-term competitiveness requires that the United States produce more university graduates in science, technology, engineering, and math.” Microsoft is involved in making that happen through a number of education-focused public initiatives.
Smith is a formidable sparring partner. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University, and racked up numerous prestigious awards. He also studied international law and economics at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. Senator Grassley is no lightweight himself as the ranking Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee.
In his statement, Smith wrote: “H-1B employees have always accounted for less than 15 per cent of Microsoft's US workforce, the level that is used in immigration law to determine whether a company is ‘H-1B dependent.’ Nonetheless, the ability to tap into the world's best minds has long been essential to our success. H-1B workers have long made crucial contributions to Microsoft's innovation successes and to our ability to help create jobs in this country. We are confident this will continue to be true in the future.”
He explained that Microsoft focuses their recruiting for core technology jobs at US universities. Then, he pointed out that 40 per cent of the engineering and computer science degrees earned in the US, and 59 per cent of doctoral degrees in the same fields, were earned by temporary residents. Technology and engineering positions account for about 90 per cent of Microsoft's H-1B workforce according to Smith’s statement.
Of the 5,000 positions that will be eliminated over an 18 month period, jobs in marketing, sales, finance, legal and corporate affairs, HR, R&D, and IT will be lost. The layoffs began in January when Microsoft laid off 1,400 workers, including some holding H-1B visas. Since the majority of Microsoft’s workforce is made up of US workers, the majority of jobs eliminated in January were held by US citizens. Using new math, Smith explained that while Microsoft's plans are to cut 5,000 positions, it also plans to 'create 2,000 to 3,000 new jobs' during the same 18-month time frame. So, Microsoft will actually only cut 2,000 to 3,000 jobs.
Grassley asked for detailed plans. What he got were generalities and statistics. When it was all said and done, Grassley complained, 'I'm still left without much information about how Microsoft is ensuring American workers are being protected or specifics of its H-1B visa hiring practices.' X
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