You may have seen the front-page, above-the-fold story last week in the Seattle Times about Microsoft's proposal for large American employers to pay a hefty increase in the fees charged for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)-related work visas, known as H-!B visas, in exchange for lifting the limit on such visas. Here is the link.

H-1B visas allow U.S. companies to bring in highly skilled foreign workers, such as computer scientists and engineers, to work in the U.S. for an extended period of time. Many U.S. firms, in particular high-tech companies like Microsoft, contend the Hi-B program is necessary, because there are not enough U.S. workers who possess the requisite skills. However, the H1-B visa program has bcome increasingly controversial over the years, because many Americans see the program as a means for U.S. companies to displace high wage American workers with foreign workers willing to work for less. Persistent high unemployment in this country has only added fuel to the fire.

Microsoft is proposing to increase the current $1,500 fee per H1-B visa to $10,000. The proposed increase will bring in an estimated $500 million a year. Microsoft wants the money to pay for more teacher training in STEM subjects and to subsidize more computer science courses to train young American college students for STEM jobs. In effect, Microsoft is proposing an exchange granting many more visas immediately so companies can bring in more foreign workers to address skill shortages, coupled with a long-term plan to fill the high-tech jobs pipeline with trained American workers.

From the WLP public policy perspective, the good news is that Microsoft is taking a very public position acknowledging the skills-gap issue and is proposing that American companies pay some serious money to the government to address the problem. The less appealing aspect is that Microsoft is not proposing to use any of the money on retraining adult workers, in effect ignoring the huge social issue of long-term unemployment.

I have brought this issue to the attention of National ASTD staff and the Public Policy Council. They have expressed interest in studying the issue and exploring ways to engage Microsoft in a dialog to improve the proposal.

What are your views on this issue? Public policy will play an increasing role in -- and impact on -- our profession. The only question is whether we will work to influence workforce development to benefit society and the work we do.

William "Bud" Wurtz, PhD
Public Resource Information and Strategies