A restructuring and H-1B use affect the Magic Kingdom’s IT operations
Apr 29, 2015 2:59 AM PT
At the end of October, IT employees at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts were called, one-by-one, into conference rooms to receive notice of their layoffs. Multiple conference rooms had been set aside for this purpose, and in each room an executive read from a script informing the worker that their last day would be Jan. 30, 2015.
Some workers left the rooms crying; others appeared shocked. This went on all day. As each employee received a call to go to a conference room, others in the office looked up sometimes with pained expressions. One IT worker recalls a co-worker mouthing "no" as he walked by on the way to a conference room.
What follows is a story of competing narratives about the restructuring of Disney's global IT operations of its parks and resorts division. But the focus is on the role of H-1B workers. Use of visa workers in a layoff is a public policy issue, particularly for Disney.
Disney CEO Bob Iger is one of eight co-chairs of the Partnership for a New American Economy, a leading group advocating for an increase in the H-1B visa cap. Last Friday, this partnership was a sponsor of an H-1B briefing at the U.S. Capitol for congressional staffers. The briefing was closed to the press.
More: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2915904/it-outsourcing/fury-rises-at-disney-over-use-of-foreign-workers.html
antigop
(12,778 posts)beerandjesus
(1,301 posts)...just a good-citizenship shortage on the part of these sociopaths.
hollysmom
(5,946 posts)I was laid off and replaced by an H1B.
KeepItReal
(7,769 posts)They decided to outsource their entire IT department to an Indian firm.
The client IT manager had the audacity to request that I train incoming contractors in the applications I implemented for them.
I informed the IT manager that I would teach any client employees everything I know, but am not obligated contractually to assist another firm train its unskilled employees to do my job (and hasten the end of my own contract? FOH).
hollysmom
(5,946 posts)KeepItReal
(7,769 posts)Unfortunately one of my cohorts was not as obstinate as me in sharing his knowledge with other consulting resources and once they had picked his brains, they unceremoniously ended his contract.
They offered to extend my contract (since I was the only expert on the applications) , but I declined. I didn't like what they did to my cohort and didn't want to work with the unqualified folks they had brought in.
msongs
(67,462 posts)Wilms
(26,795 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)"Hey, you've never expressed any interest in moving to Cleveland, or even Ohio, or even the Midwest. But we'd like to interview you for a job in Cleveland! It pays below market rate too! And we won't be paying for your travel to the interview!"
Turns to the government
"We asked 100 US citizens to interview for this job, and none replied! We need an H1B visa!"