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A lawsuit by four IT workers alleging that outsourcing firm Infosys favored hiring Indian workers over U.S. workers now includes an account from a former Infosys recruiter about the alleged practice. It includes accounts by Samuel Marrero, who worked in Infosys's talent acquisition unit from 2011 until May 2013, of meetings with executives at the India-based IT services firm. Marrero and other recruiters "frequently complained" to higher-ups at Infosys during these weekly calls that many of the highly qualified American candidates they had presented were being rejected in favor of Indian prospects. In response to one of these complaints, Infosys' global enterprise lead allegedly said, "Americans don't know $#!%," according to the lawsuit. Infosys has denied allegations that it discriminates.
On July 10, Computerworld wrote about this lawsuit, and asked Infosys in advance for a comment. The company finally responded on July 18, saying in part:
"It is incorrect to insinuate that we exclude or discourage U.S. workers. Today, we are recruiting to fill over 440 active openings across 20 states in the US. These include 300 openings for professional hires and about 140 openings targeting local and recent MBA graduates, Masters degree holders and under graduates to bolster our sales and management consulting teams. This hiring program is a key investment to strengthen our future leadership pool. The program will see us investing in an extensive training and leadership-mentoring exercise to groom young MBAs for a rewarding career with us.
"Attracting the best and brightest talent is paramount to Infosys' success," the company said in the July 18 statement. "We are committed to creating a work environment where every employee feels included, valued and respected."
Infosys officials could not be reached for comment on the recently amended complaint.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday October 08 2014, @02:34PM
It's not entirely about salary.
One of the main reasons US-based tech companies like H1B visa holders over citizens is that if you hold an H1B visa, and your employer fires you or you quit your job, then you no longer have a right to live in the United States and are on your way home to wherever you came from. They like that H1B visa holders have restrictions on their ability to look for another job (they really really hate how easy it is for employees to change companies, because that is in fact driving up prices). They also like the fact that those employees, since they're coming to a new country, are unlikely to have a social or family life outside of work, so they can be on call 24x7x365. Both employers and visa holders know about all of this, so that makes it easier for employers to force those employees to work 100-hour work weeks and otherwise abuse their staff.
And yes, some of it is also about price.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 1) by Horse With Stripes on Wednesday October 08 2014, @05:48PM
Yup. Like I said:
As an added bonus you can control them via their HB1 visa.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday October 08 2014, @08:01PM
Whoops, my mistake for reading too quickly. Although my understanding is that a lot of managers like the increased misery they can inflict on H-1Bs more than the cost savings of lower salaries.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 1) by Horse With Stripes on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:17PM
Are you actually saying that managers would enjoy and even revel in the domination and control that comes with such significant power? Say it ain't so, Thexalon. ;-)
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday October 08 2014, @08:17PM
You're missing the important element of motivation, training and distractions...
Motivation: the H1 guy/girl is in a new environment and eager to prove his/her worth and the appropriateness of the big move to the US.
Training: US schools suck (below Graduate school). Badly. Terribly. Seriously, it's amazing how much US school suck, even my Bulgarian roommate was amazed at the Undergrad college level. Most other developing and developed countries push students a whole lot more, and then there's the crazy asian kids who leave school at 5 or 6PM, grab a quick bite and take after-hours classes until 10 or 11PM (see the neighborhood around Taipei Main Station). For a recent graduate in tech, I'll take a foreigner over most Americans (though i've met a few extremely smart ones, they are less common than foreigners who were able to make the life-altering jump)
Distractions: if your family and your favorite sports team are 10 timezones away, you're less likely to slack off during work hours...
Source: I would know.