Another big business demanding access to foreign labor is laying off American workers by the tens of thousands.
Hewlett-Packard has lobbied extensively for more H-1b workers on the grounds it can’t find skilled Americans to do the work, but the tech company announced Tuesday it’s laying off 10 percent of its workforce. Between 25,000 and 30,000 HP employees will lose their jobs.
The layoffs are part of a plan to cut $2.7 billion in costs each year as HP is split into two companies, and are in addition to another 55,000 layoffs announced earlier this year, reported The Wall Street Journal.
“It has been a bumpy road,” CEO Meg Whitman said Tuesday, according to TheWSJ.
Tech giants Microsoft and Qualcomm also recently announced massive rounds of layoffs.
All three are part of a major lobbying effort to get Congress to expand the H-1b program, on the grounds there is a shortage of American workers with science, technology, engineering and math degrees.
HP praised the introduction of a bill known as “I-Squared” that would triple the cap on H-1bs, saying in a statement that it addresses “our nation’s need for more qualified, highly skilled professionals–domestic and foreign.”
The stated purpose of the H-1b program is to allow companies to temporarily import high-skilled workers when they can’t find American workers willing or able to do the job. Critics contend its true purpose is to help big businesses cut costs by importing less expensive workers.
Together, HP Qualcomm and Microsoft are laying off close to 100,000 workers.
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