Neil, The job I mentioned was a BA role, though I think the same problem will happen in writing roles, especially in IT where I do a lot of work. The instance I mentioned is only one job (though it was one I really wanted) but I too think it will happen more in the future. I think we have to decide whether we want a higher standard of living (and hence the need to earn higher wages) or to accept lower wages and then be able to buy less. If that happens, small business and retail will sell less and that will push prices down. Businesses will be less able to hire people and soon enough, our economy devolves into the type of economy the Europeans appear to have. It troubles me too. Michelle From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Neil Maloney Sent: Tuesday, 7 May 2013 12:37 PM To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: atw: Re: Use of 457 Visas in the IT Industry ... Michelle, in my other post just sent, I thought carefully about writing, in relation to how serious the 457 visa problem is in the IT industry here, that it is "not of such great an interest to me". I wrote that in an attempt to jump out of continuing to write about that aspect of the recent threads on this list, because I'm not involved in the way you and others are, I don't know what's happening and I don't know that there is that much I would be able to contribute. However, your situation, and that of others on this list where 457 visa holders may have undercut them, does trouble me and I wish it wasn't happening. Wishing doesn't make it go away, unfortunately, and I'm wondering whether it is going to be happening more frequently as time goes by. Is what has just happened in the USA an indicator? Don't know, but I do know that it too troubles me. Neil. On 7/05/2013 12:30 PM, Michelle Hallett wrote: Hi Tim, I don't know much about the American context. I do know that I lost a job for which I was qualified last year to someone on a 457 visa. I have a mortgage to pay so I can't live on $50,000 and I suspect there are others like me. Paying people $50,000 a year to do work for which I would ask $80-100,000 undercuts the money people like us can earn. I also spent a lot of money at university and doing additional courses to keep up with technology so I expect to earn more than $50,000. I'm all for other people living a decent lifestyle, though I'd prefer it didn't undercut my own. Regards Michelle -----Original Message----- From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Tim Hildred Sent: Tuesday, 7 May 2013 11:43 AM To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: atw: Re: Use of 457 Visas in the IT Industry ... Sorry, Neil, where are you going with that? >From the NYTimes article, I took away that the H1-B program is good for >America, and is being advocated for by conservatives. But the American context >is not the Austrlian context. In the Australian context, you can't pay someone less than $50 000 on a 457. That isn't exactly low-wage. It may not be Jay-z money, but it allows skilled people to take jobs that Australians aren't interested and live a decent lifestyle. I'm wary of drawing attention to the 457 program without providing context because of recent rhetoric coming from the political class. Who seem to ignore the presence of their own 457 staff while attempting to stir up some kind of populist nationalism in a desperate attempt to win votes. Tim Hildred, RHCE Content Author II - Engineering Content Services, Red Hat, Inc. Brisbane, Australia Email: thildred@xxxxxxxxxx Internal: 8588287 Mobile: +61 4 666 25242 IRC: thildred ----- Original Message ----- From: "Neil Maloney" <mailto:maloneyn@xxxxxxxxxxx> <maloneyn@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Sunday, May 5, 2013 2:27:54 PM Subject: atw: Use of 457 Visas in the IT Industry ... Someone on the list in the last few days (I am sure) mentioned that there are a lot of dodgy workers in IT under the 457 scheme. Had a good look for that mail, can't find it, the dog must have eaten it. I thought I'd post this link about what's happening in the US of A with their H-1B scheme, from today's New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/us/politics/tech-firms-take-lead-in- lobbying-on-immigration.html?hp&_r=0 From the article: Silicon Valley lobbyists told Senate negotiators they agreed that the H1-B visa system had been subject to abuse. Go after the companies that take advantage of guest worker visas and give us the benefit of the doubt, they told the Senate staff members, according to interviews with several lobbyists. “You know and we know there are some bad people in this system,” is how Scott Corley, the president of Compete America, a technology industry coalition, recalled the conversation. “We are simply trying to make sure that as they are pursuing the rats they are not sinking the ship.” That acknowledgment, several lobbyists said privately, helped unlock an impasse in negotiations. What emerged was a Senate measure that allows American technology companies to procure many more skilled guest worker visas, raising the limit to 110,000 a year from 65,000 under current law, along with a provision to expand it further based on market demand. The bill would also allow these companies to move workers on guest visas more easily to permanent resident visas, freeing up more temporary visas for these companies. But it requires them to pay higher wages for guest workers and to post job openings on a Web site, so Americans can have a chance at them. And it draws a line in the sand between these technology firms and the mostly Indian companies that supply computer workers on H-1B visas for short-term jobs at companies in the United States. ... and I'm not necessarily saying that this is good news. Unemployment in the US is running at 7.5% and this deal allows more foreign workers to be brought in (although the bill hasn't been passed yet). Neil. ************************************************** To view the austechwriter archives, go to www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject field (without quotes). 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