Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2015 19:25:54 -0500
From: mark <whitroth@5-cent.us>
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: [WSFA] Southern California Edison IT workers 'beyond furious' over H-1B replacements
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist@KeithLynch.net>

Excerpt:
Information technology workers at Southern California Edison (SCE) are
being laid off and replaced by workers from India. Some employees are
training their H-1B visa holding replacements, and many have already lost
their jobs.

The employees are upset and say they can't understand how H-1B guest
workers can be used to replace them.

The IT organization's "transition effort" is expected to result in about
400 layoffs, with "another 100 or so employees leaving voluntarily," SCE
said in a statement. The "transition," which began in August, will be
completed by the end of March, the company said.

"They are bringing in people with a couple of years' experience to replace
us and then we have to train them," said one longtime IT worker. "It's
demoralizing and in a way I kind of felt betrayed by the company."

SCE, Southern California's largest utility, has confirmed the layoffs and
the hiring of Infosys, based in Bangalore, and Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS) in Mumbai. They are two of the largest users of H-1B visas.

The utility has a large IT department. In 2012, before any layoffs, it had
about 1,800 employees, plus an additional 1,500 contract workers.
<...>
SCE said the transition to Infosys and Tata "will lead to enhancements
that deliver faster and more efficient tools and applications for services
that customers rely on. Through outsourcing, SCE's information technology
organization will adopt a proven business strategy commonly and
successfully used by top U.S. companies that SCE benchmarks against."
--- end excerpt ---

<http://www.computerworld.com/article/2879083/southern-california-edison-it-workers-beyond-furious-over-h-1b-replacements.html>

       mark