Summary: Microsoft refuses to treat American workforce appropriately; Apple layoffs rumoured

MICROSOFT'S illegally-obtained H-1B visas have gotten at least one senator angry [1, 2, 3, 4]. Microsoft has just responded to concerns that he raised and in its typical nonchalant fashion it responded arrogantly.

Microsoft Dodges Senator's Layoff Questions

Microsoft responded Tuesday to queries from a U.S. lawmaker urging the company to retain American workers rather than foreign workers when conducting its layoffs, but the software giant dodged most of Senator Charles Grassley's questions.

Following Microsoft's announcement on Jan. 22 that it would lay off 5,000 people, Grassley, an Iowa Republican, sent a letter to CEO Steve Ballmer, expressing his concern that Microsoft would retain foreign guest workers rather than similarly qualified American employees.

Here is Microsoft's argument in a nutshell:

Some workers employed under H-1B visas will be let go as a natural part of the layoffs, along with other employees, Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith wrote in the letter. However, he wrote, Microsoft does "not expect to see a significant change in the proportion of H-1B employees in our workforce following the job reductions."

More coverage from Seattle can be found right here. So once again, Microsoft is ignoring the complaints from legislators and it's not surprising. A decade or so ago, a government official said that "the government is not trying to destroy Microsoft, it’s simply seeking to compel Microsoft to obey the law. It’s quite revealing that Mr. Gates equates the two."

In other news about employment, rumours about Apple layoffs are not going away.

Rumor Check: Apple Layoffs on the Way?

[...]

Bear in mind that a new Apple rumor seems to surface every several days. (Remember last week's iPhone on Verizon buzz?) Sure, some of them turn out to have truth, but the vast majority end up fizzling away in the Web's virtual gossip mill. Between the ever-present $99 iPhone idea and the occasional death (or near-death) of Steve Jobs, there's always some sort of scuttlebutt on the table--and all you can do is treat each one with a healthy dose of skepticism.

If you're still not convinced, consider the new word just published by The Wall Street Journal : "People familiar with the matter say that no conference rooms have been booked ... and that there is no massive layoff Tuesday as has been rumored."

Apple has been far from supportive of Free software and GNU/Linux. It may have cost it dearly. ⬆