Jesse Jackson Attacks Silicon Valley Firms for Hiring the Most Qualified People
Via a reader tip comes news that Jesse Jackson is bringing his race hustling enterprise to Silicon Valley:
Civil rights advocate Jesse Jackson brought his campaign for more diversity in Silicon Valley workforces to The Chronicle Editorial Board Wednesday, noting that the racial separation of 50 years ago wasn’t as great as the inequality today. First Google, and then other Silicon Valley firms, released numbers depicting shockingly low racial and gender diversity in their workplaces, stories routinely reported in The Chronicle.
The Rev. Jackson said Silicon Valley companies are operating outside the equal opportunity employment and anti-discrimination laws and should know better. These companies have been created long since those laws were passed, and well after cultural expectations of equal access to jobs had taken root. The most frequent defense from the companies is that these jobs are technically demanding and that there are few blacks or Latinos with the needed skills. “Then why not invest in a plan to produce the engineers you need?” Jackson asks.
Jackson is promoting the idea that Silicon Valley firms, who have billions of dollars in offshore bank accounts that bypass U.S. taxes, could invest some of those funds in education and scholarships to train people of color as programmers and engineers. “Grow your own food, so to speak,” he said.
From Jackson’s view, the workforce should represent the marketplace. If 12 to 20 percent of the technology marketplace is black or brown, then shouldn’t 12 to 20 percent of the technology workforce be black or brown? The companies’ bottom line would benefit from the added value of inclusion, he said. (SF Gate)
You can read more at the link, but I eagerly await Jackson to start a campaign to get more whites and Asians into the NBA to better reflect the population like he wants Silicon Valley to do.
““Then why not invest in a plan to produce the engineers you need?” Jackson asks.”
Heh WHAT?!
Did the Rev move to one of those states where the mary-j is legal cause he had to have been high to seriously suggest it’s encumbent upon private industry to ensure future talent meets projected hiring requirements.
Saw this in the open thread before I saw this one.
Can’t believe the audacity of this man. Tech companies should create a plan to benefit blacks specifically?
The more important issue is what can the tech giants or U.S. schools do to cultivate interest among U.S. children of any race?
I bet many of the tech giants already have community outreach programs to get kids interested in tech, possibly in schools or community centers in lower class areas, but not to benefit one race over any other.
I’m not sure what Mr. Jackson’s beef is or what it has to do with the Korea or military theme of this blog … but if it has something to do with the massive human trafficking of low wage H-1B visa workers from Asia to Silicone Valley to displace domestic STEM workers, he may have a point.
10 BE PRINTIN’ “YO WORLD WAZZUP”
20 BE GOIN’ TO 10 AN’ SHIIIT
– compile –
SYNTAX ERROR IN LINE 20. STOP TALKIN’ IN RHYME AND SHOOT ME SOME STRAIGHT JIVE, MY NIGGA
SUGGESTED SYNTAX:
20 BE GOIN’ TO 10 M’FUKKER
—
When all those billionaire dirtbags in Silcon Valley get their “amnesty” so they can make a few billion more by replacing well-paid Americans with lower-paid Indians and Chinese… and then conspire with the government to put up more barriers to entry (such as killing Net Neutrality) so former employees can’t get together and make competition, Jesse Jackson will have to wait in line behind whites and Asian-Americans whike the Silicon Valley billionaires live like modern feudal lords surrounded by the povery of low wage workers both in and out of the tech industry.
White, yellow, brown, and black Americans will be sharpening their pitchforks.
Jackson’s first step should be mobilizing the black community to fight immigration amnisty/reform… as it will affect the black community first…
…but Jackson is no friend of the repressed… he is a friend of repression… as it keeps him in a job.
Maybe black leadership should lead their communities away from protesting over thugs that get shot while being thugs… and push for getting an education.
JoeC, I sometimes post random topics on here that I think ROK Heads may find of interest. Chickenhead pretty much already nailed it, but what you bring up is what the Chamber of Commerce sponsored Republicans view as “Immigration Reform”. As Chickenhead said instead of bashing Silicon Valley Jesse Jackson should be the loudest opponent of amnesty to protect African-American workers which he isn’t.
There’s probably plenty of reasons I haven’t thought of but I wonder why some of these giants don’t move most of their operations to states with low to no income taxes instead of propping up California’s shiity economy and shiity business policies?
Higher connection speeds are becoming available in the southeast, where people need jobs (including many in the tech industry) and the taxes and operational costs are low in many places.
Besides, if people will move from all over the country to California for a killer job, they will surely move to another part of the country where they get to keep more of their income. I do realize that some people consider California a desirable location to live. Aside from its natural beauty, I can’t understand why.
JoeC, if he had a problem with H1B visas, then he should state it. Instead, Jackson whined about not enough “black and brown people” which doesn’t make sense since many Asian Indians in IT are brown skinned, darker than blacks.
What an idiot.
Marketplace != labor pool for technology.
Just because blacks use gadgets does not mean they can create softwares and hardwares
Besides, it would be natural if most people in the tech sector is white or asian since the majority of the SV population are either Asian or White
Besides, of you go to colleges over there, blacks and hispanics hardly take up computer science or even business courses. It’s Asians or whites who go to STEM and business.
Cupertino, Fremont, Santa Claran Sunnyvale have HUGE Asian population, sometimes majority are Asians. Towards Campbell, Saratoga, Los Gatos, usually white. He should name a city in the SV where majority are black
And arent a lot of Asians brown per se? He must have the notion that the only Asians are the “yellow east asians”. Did he miss the huge Indian, Afghan, and Pakistani as well as brown Southeast Asian population or he thought they were “black” (maybe that is why he thinks blacks make 13 to 20% of the SV when it is around 2-5% in reality)?
@johnnyboy quality of schools, infrastructure, labor pool, work ethic
Many immigrant in tech sector in the US are actually schooled in the US. The tech sector is unlike the healthcare industry
It’s more cost effective to import qualified foreign laborers in a place where necessary infrastructure are already there with significant labor pool for the jobs over relocating to areas where infrastructure are not at par and the tech labor pool isn’t that great
Besides, if tech companies follow your advice, the Southeast will see a skyrocket in cost of living. Cities in the Silicon Valley are even more expensive than San Diego.
Besides, it is not even an assurance that Tech companies will hire locals. Look at what Nielsen did in Oldsmar, FL. After the city gave them cut backs in taxes, they laid off local workers are replaced them with foreign laborers.
I can see why many companies hire foreign nationals – they complain less and do more. Meanwhile, the work ethic of many younger Americans are horrible. They want to work less but be paid more.
Asians are known to complain less and do more. US born Americans are known to complain more and do less (which is why obesity is high among US born Americans)
If states in the Southeast want their own tech sector, they should develop it. But they will have to have the money to build the infrastructure and build quality schools which means, they’ll have to increase tax to be able to have those infrastructure as well as qualified labor pool. In addition, the South is not known to be friendly to immigrants and the tech sector loves hardworking immigrants.
I think amnesty or reform wont help blacks either. Why?
Most illegals work in jobs that Americans dont want – picking vegetables in the farm. It makes no sense that people are saying that illegals steal their jobs since the jobs that illegaks go to are the jobs that no one wants to the point that even during the recessiin there was labor shortage. We didnt see many whites or blacks applying as vegetable/fruit harvester. Besides, illegals can’t be pickier with jobs since most employers do a background check and verify eligibility to work in the US.
The most cost effective way to battle this is to grant amnesty given that they pay fees and back taxes and the government should punish businesses that hire illegals. If there is no demand for illegals, they won’t be inclined to go to the US
Labor shortage solution in the US should be modeled after Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore – more contractual foreign labor. The non office jobs are usually filled with foreign labor because citizens in those countries no longer want to do those jobs, but those jobs are still vital to their economy as veggies and fruits are an important part of US agricultural economy and food supply but most Americans don’t want to work on that sector.
“Many immigrant in tech sector in the US are actually schooled in the US. The tech sector is unlike the healthcare industry”
I think this applies more to Master’s and Doctorate level technology, engineering, and mathematics. If there is a labor shortage in the tech industry, it is probably mostly at these levels. I don’t think there is a great need for these companies to bring in foreigners for entry to mid level tech workers.
“It’s more cost effective to import qualified foreign laborers in a place where necessary infrastructure are already there with significant labor pool for the jobs over relocating to areas where infrastructure are not at par and the tech labor pool isn’t that great”
I would agree it may be more cost effective short term but the infrastructure is already there in many places in the south and the labor pool can be supplemented until the schools can catch up. Chattanooga, and Nashville in Tennessee have large tech sectors. The tech triangle in North Carolina hosts many tech companies. Much of the internet traffic on the eastern seaboard is routed through Atlanta. The lines are being run or already have been run. A lot of fiber is just laying underground waiting to be used.
“Besides, it is not even an assurance that Tech companies will hire locals. Look at what Nielsen did in Oldsmar, FL. After the city gave them cut backs in taxes, they laid off local workers are replaced them with foreign laborers.”
In many places they probably wouldn’t have to bring in foreigners. The average salary and cost of living in many locations in the south are already lower than the national average. They could come in paying less right off the bat. I can’t speak to the rise in cost of living but Google already has some data centers in areas with low populations like Lenoir, NC. I doubt the cost of living went up much, but then again data centers don’t have a large amount of employees. In the built uo areas the cost of living is naturally higher than rural areas but that isn’t necessarily due to the tech industry.
As to your assertion that many Americans are lazy, I won’t deny that is true in many instances. That shouldn’t mean these companies are allowed to replace their whole work force with foreigners that will do the work for cheaper because it is more money than they can make at home.
Workers in the tech industry know what they should be paid relative to their experience, education, and the area they reside in. When you bring in the people that will do it for cheaper, it causes the wage expectations to drop.
The U.S. should be selective about the work visas it grants. There should be priority and expedited work visas for those foreigners with high education and experience if there is a shortage of U.S. workers in that field. At the same time we should be taking measures to boost interest in those fields among U.S. citizens.
The market should not be flooded with entry level IT workers from other countries. Regardless of how the companies feel about U.S. workers’ ethics and salary expectations, they are not the ones who dictate immigration policy (but will probably get their way by lobbying.) The government should be interested in keeping the middle class thriving for U.S. citizens first.
I guess the real trick for the companies in that case would be to keep salaries on par for U.S. workers and at the same time keep the prices for their services competitive. This assumes that any of them are passing their savings from using foreign workers onto their consumers to begin with.
You’re probably right, though. The eggheads at these companies must have all costs figured out down to the last cent. If it made sense for them financially to move operations to other states, they would have already done it by now and we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.
I have to imagine it’s a headache dealing with California’s policies, regulations, and union friendly environment.
Why all the fuss over Democrat on Democrat violence?
There’s a lot more going on about the H1B folks that isn’t widely known. Along the lines of “That’s a nice IT Department you’ve got there. It’d be a shame if all of your low-wage consultants left, wouldn’t it? You need to hire 10 more and the new rate is…” Or at least that’s what I overheard in a restaurant last year…