2007-04-04 14:25:21

This is NOT how it's supposed to work

#ifdef ANGRY_RANT

Until the end of September 2006, we had a person on our team here at SourceGear.  Let's call her Jane.

Jane was an extraordinary employee.  She worked in QA as part of the Vault development team.  Her coworkers described her in very positive ways, sometimes using superlatives.

So what happened -- did she leave SourceGear for a better job?  Nope.  In fact, Jane isn't working at all right now.

Jane is from India.  She was working for SourceGear on a J-2 visa, which is basically "the spouse of someone with a J-1 visa".  Unfortunately, her husband's visa changed from J-1 to H-1B (which happened because he works for the University, which is exempt from the H-1B limits).  The spouse of a J-1 is allowed to work.  The spouse of an H-1B is not.

We've been told that the only way for us to rehire Jane is to get her an H-1B visa of her own.  The deadline for submitting applications was Monday.  For uninteresting reasons beyond our control, we didn't even submit an application.  And if we had, there is apparently a good chance we would have been denied anyway.  Only 65,000 slots are available and the government received 150,000 applications.  A lottery will be used to decide whose applications are to be accepted.

I know the H-1B issue is controversial.  Public discussion of the topic tends to include emotionally charged phrases like "indentured servitude" and "taking jobs from Americans".  I don't really know the subtleties of this debate, nor do I care.  Jane wants to work for SourceGear.  SourceGear wants to rehire Jane.  None of this has anything to do with saving money by hiring cheap foreign labor into a life of bondage.  When we originally hired Jane, she was selected from a pool of over 30 applicants.  The fact that she is not a U.S. citizen was irrelevant.  She was paid a fair salary and bonuses according to the same structure as every other member of our team.  Everything was completely legal, and she turned out to be an outstanding hire.

We lost her because of a stupid technicality.

I don't think this is how it's supposed to work.

#endif