In The News

Germans Agree to Admit Skilled Immigrants

May 27, 2004
German politicians have finally agreed on a progressive new immigration policy that will allow skilled non-European workers to enter and reside in the country. had spent three years working on the legislation. After much consultation and political wrangling, said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, a balance was struck between Greens who wanted a more liberal policy and groups who feared that...

For Many in U.S., Money Talks Even as Jobs Walk

David Streitfeld May 6, 2004
Recent public debates on outsourcing appear to have borne little fruit or changed consumer behavior in the United States. Eighty bills regulating and restricting outsourcing of American jobs to countries with cheaper labor have been introduced in the U.S Congress and state legislatures. None has passed so far. At the same time, almost half of the Fortune 500 companies have moved at least some...

Some Lost Jobs Never Leave Home

Jessica M. Vaughan May 2, 2004
With global trade expanding to all sectors, the US is now witnessing not just its goods being produced abroad, but increasingly, services as well. Many American companies, seeing the advantages of hiring foreign workers, have moved a step further – instead of moving service centers abroad, many companies are now importing foreign professionals into the US to do the job. This kind of outsourcing...

Inflows to the East are a Problem Too

Luke Allnutt April 20, 2004
While Western Europe worries about droves of people pouring across their borders from the newest members of the European Union, immigration into Eastern Europe goes unnoticed. But there are already signs that countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Hungary are shifting from states of net emigration to ones combining emigration, immigration, and transit, according to a recent survey by...

A Matter of More Than Economics

Martin Wolf April 13, 2004
As the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) opened up to more and more immigrants to satisfy their domestic labor needs, many have started thinking about the implications for such sizable immigration. Martin Wolf, columnist for the Financial Times, says that the choice for more immigration should not just be based on economic incentives, but also on the values of a country's citizens...

Outsourcing, Turned Inside Out

Ken Belson April 11, 2004
While most Americans today have heard about and many already been alarmed by the outsourcing of jobs overseas, some others might not be as worried; those include the employees of South Korean semiconductor company Samsung in Austin, Texas. The company just announced that it would pump another $500 into its Texas plant, adding an additional 300 jobs to its 700-people workforce. Samsung is not...

A Shortage of Seasonal Workers Is Feared

Eduardo Porter April 10, 2004
As the summer approaches, many American companies have started their seasonal worker recruitment process, but when employers went to the US Departments of Labor and Homeland Security to submit their visa applications for their foreign employees, they found out that this year's 66,000 limit for the H-2B visa, a visa for temporary foreign workers, was already reached, putting many of the...