News from dookie

(InfoWorld) - Ephraim Schwartz, InfoWorld’s fearless editor at large, has waded into roiling waters once again. I’m talking about his ongoing coverage of the SKIL (Securing Knowledge, Innovation and Leadership) Bill, which would raise the yearly cap on H-1B visas, allowing qualified foreign workers — many in IT — to work in the States. Schwartz has been following the visa dispute for years, getting a steady stream of both hate mail and attaboys in the process. But as U.S. citizens continue to struggle in the IT job market, the debate has intensified. Case in point: Schwartz’s most recent blog entry on the subject has already drawn more than 20,000 fiery words from folks on both sides of the issue. Public sentiment aside, the SKIL Bill is expected to pass both chambers of Congress easily, with broad bipartisan support. Despite the much-politicized nature of the issue, you simply can’t map this debate along party lines. It’s not your typical Republican vs. Democrat question; it’s more of a Big Business vs. the People thing — with the pols aligning with the biz side. In truth, though, the issues are far from clear-cut. Yes, U.S. companies have laid off scads of employees and continue to hire foreign-born workers, sometimes at less-than-market rates; but many employers still can’t seem to fill open IT positions. Then there’s outsourcing: Will the availability of fewer foreign workers simply push companies to send more jobs overseas? Would it be better to have those H-1B workers here, where they pay taxes and contribute to our economy? Complex questions, indeed. And Schwartz cautions against simplistic assumptions. We live in “a complicated world,” he writes. “Looking for easy … answers — like no immigration, no outsourcing, or becoming completely self-sufficient — is unrealistic.”