America's High-Tech Sweatshops

Nicholas Salmons

10/8/09

8:58 pm

A recent article in BuisnessWeek Magazine discussed a current trend in the modern technology industry that focused on the illegal manipulations of work visas within the U.S.. According to the article, individuals across the globe who are trying to become involved in the tech world are often subjected to advertising from software and/or tech-based consultation companies which promises high-paying jobs in the U.S., as well as funding for the visas required in order to get here. However, after pursuing such ads, applicants often find themselves paying thousands of dollars to these miracle employers just in "up-front fees." Not only that, but should they successfully arrive in the U.S., these hopeful employees regularly are left without any job at all - the entire advertising campaign being an extremely elaborate scheme: the companies keep records of the money taken from these applicants as bills paid by clients to the applicants as if they were actually employed, thereby establishing the profit made from their deception as simple service fees. Such false paper trails (along with employer's power to revoke an employee's work visa, as the H-1B work visa isn't held by the worker, but the company), and the sheer number and microscopic size of many of these companies provide enough confusion to prevent in-depth investigation. Still, lawsuits are in progress, though many have been hushed-up or brushed aside by suspected firms. Some of these lawsuits have resulted in applicants' being found guilty of visa manipulation, as one recruiting tactic for companies is to persuade applicants to "inflate" their resumes, making it more likely to gain visa approval.

I thought this article was pretty interesting. This apparently happens in companies all over the place, which is also interesting, because it shows that just because places like New Jersey, Michigan, San Diego, Iowa and others may not have factories where the workers fall asleep from exhaustion in a pile of blue jeans (maybe they do, I don't know. I hope not), there is still a vast amount of illegal manipulation going on that severely influences the lives and hopes of individuals and families (one worker mentioned found himself divorced because of such a situation). What is even more striking is the power held over these "cyber sweatshop" employees through the threat of deportation; since they hold no power over their own permission to be in the country, the fear of enormous fines and ejection from the U.S. stifles much complaint regarding work conditions (this, as well as the fees charged by employers for obtaining visas for positions they don't have available for filling and massive amounts of pay docking, is quite illegal).

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_41/b4150034732629.htm