H-1B visa holders to get pink slips at Microsoft

Microsoft, which has recently announced shedding some 5,000 jobs, will be giving pink slips to H-1B visa holders too, despite acknowledging that this category of workers has a significant contribution to the company's success.

Microsoft, in a letter to Senator Charles Grassley, has said the H-1B work visa programme helped hire the best available talent of the world.

The present Microsoft line can be seen in the context of the policies of the Obama regime, which gives preference to companies hiring Americans in giving bail-out.

H1-B employees have always accounted for less than 15 per cent of Microsoft's US workforce, the level that is used in immigration law to determine whether a company is "H-1B dependent," the letter said.

Answering a specific question from the Senator on H-1B people losing their jobs, Microsoft said: "Workers on H-1B visas and other temporary work visas make up only a small percentage of our overall workforce, but they were also among the employees impacted by the reductions announced in January. Employees outside the United States were also impacted."