US Banks Sought Foreign Workers Even As they Laid Off Thousands 'Major U.S. banks sought government permission to bring thousands of foreign workers into the country for high-paying jobs even as the system was melting down last year and Americans were getting laid off, according to an Associated Press review of visa applications. The dozen banks now receiving the biggest rescue packages, totaling more than 150 billion dollars, requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years for positions that included senior vice presidents, corporate lawyers, junior investment analysts and human resources specialists. The average annual salary for those jobs was nearly twice the median income for all American households.' Protectionism - Globalisations Dark Side 'As Politicians know only too well, even the best chosen words can turn out to be hostages to fortune. Six months ago, President Nicolas Sarkozy boasted that when there is a strike in France these days no-one notices because it is simply not such a big deal. Two years ago, Gordon Brown stated that British jobs should be for British workers. Surveying the industrial unrest which has swept through both countries both leaders must now be wishing that they had kept a firmer bridle on their tongues. Instead of playing to the gallery - as they intended when they basked in their self-confident rhetoric - their comments have come back to bite them.'Monday, 02 February 2009
Monday, 2 February 2009
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