Obamacare > H-1B Visas and Offshoring

Huffington Post: In the case of ObamaCare implementation in Illinois, H-1B workers are replacing state employees and other state positions are being outsourced to facilities in India....to replace state employees (who have more experience) with foreigners for higher wages.

A time when Illinois had the second highest unemployment in the country, Governor Patrick Quinn circumvented a three year procurement process on up to $190 million in no-bid IT contracts. One of the largest contracts will outsource Illinois jobs to India in a ten year $71.4 million staffing contract to Cognizant Technology Solutions, a company that ranks in the national top 10 for procuring H-1B visa workers.

But these are not IT "experts" coming in on H-1B visas, they are recent college graduates. This is part of Quinn's ten year plan to replace Illinois-based workers with permanent H-1B visa contractors and using off-shore facilities for additional work.

Cognizant Technology Solutions will charge Illinois up to $109.28/ hour, or $218,560 per position per year, for the work. This far exceeds the $75/ hour, or $150,000 annual cost, of even the most senior Illinois experts.

Many Cognizant consultants, coders, architects, MBA's and programmers will be based at Cognizant's facilities in India. Illinois state employees threatened with displacement have identified up to 60 state specialists whose jobs will be cut - some with up to 8 years' experience.