Double Standard?

There was quite an uproar about Bill Gates' recent comments urging the Bush administration and the US congress to end the cap on hiring foreign workers. Many protested that allowing companies to hire foreign workers when some american workes are un-employeed is unfair. They also feel that companies are primarily hiring foreign worker to cust costs and bring down the wages of local workers. While cost may be one of the factors, availability of well qualified workers is certainly another. Qualified americans are seldom the ones who are unemployed. Often we tend to become complacent and do not keep up with emerging technologies where as our foreign counterparts are more abreast with the latest technologies! Thanks to the Internet, it has now become easy for anyone anywhere in the world with a broadband connection to the Internet to become well aware and familiar with the latest in technology.

Besides, I find that we seem to have somewhat of a double standard. On one hand we promote open and free markets and capitalism. We want all countries to allow free trade. How then could we justify putting limits on the number of foreign workers that are hired by American companies?

With the economy increasingly becoming global, it is inevitable that americans will be forced to compete with a global workforce, many of who live in areas with lower cost of living and quality of life. Already many companies have been setting up offices abroad to tap into the foreign workforce and capping H1 visas is only going to limit the competitive advantage of american companies.