Microsoft said Tuesday it plans to expand its operations in Fargo, N.D., adding a third building there to house an additional 575 workers.
The software maker said it is just the first step of a planned expansion that will one day allow Microsoft to have as many as 3,800 workers at that facility. It currently has nearly 1,300 workers in Fargo, including 956 full-time employees and 337 contractors and temporary workers.
Microsoft kicked off its Fargo operations with its purchase of Great Plains Software, completed in 2001, though it now houses workers in other divisions as well.
"The Microsoft Fargo location has significantly expanded its charter over the past several years, and today the campus is home to teams from across the company," Microsoft Business Division President Jeff Raikes said in a statement. "The expansion we are announcing today is very exciting and will help position us to keep pace with our growth and the changing needs of our business."
In addition to building the new 120,000-square-foot building in Fargo, Microsoft said it will tack on 65,000 square feet to an existing building.
Last month, Microsoft said it was leasing 1.3 million square feet in two office towers under construction in Bellevue, Wash., a Seattle suburb near Microsoft's main campus in Redmond. Microsoft said that space could eventually house 4,000 people.
This Must Be Why They Want So Many H-1B Foreign Visa Workers
Microsoft is one of the biggest advocates of the H-1B foreign guest worker visa, when there so many Americans that have invested in an education in Computer Science that are looking for jobs - yes, believe it.
The spirit of the our visa law:
The mission of the Department of Labor (DOL), Foreign Labor Certification office, is to permit U.S. employers to hire aliens, on a temporary or permanent basis, provided there aren't U.S. workers "able, willing and qualified" to fill the positions and admission of aliens won't adversely affect American workers.
should be followed.
Instead, while there are underemployed and unemployed Americans with Computer Science degrees looking for work, corporations like Microsoft will hire foreign workers. Don't believe that it is for the skills because foreigners line up to come to the US to go to MIT, etc. It is for cheaper labor and Microsoft should be ashamed of its practices and how they are undermining the American workforce.
This practice is spreading to many service sector professions.
Investigate the side of the story you don't hear on the news:
Please read "Debunking The Myth Of The Desperate Software Labor Shortage" by Dr. Norman Matloff. It is available on the internet. He testified to Congress first back in 1998, and still the H-1B foreign visa worker program grows.
creating a campus in Fargo encourage foreigners to come to work for MS? Have you ever been there? They'd have to double or triple my salary just to live up there. No offense to the citizenry, but it gets hellishly cold there. I agree there is no shortage but I don't see how this can't be a positive step towards employment of our own people.
This is an expansion to the former Great Plains software facility in Fargo (acquired by Microsoft years ago). If you think MS is hurting US workers then you don't live in the Seattle area. MS hires 150 new people/week just in the Seattle area (most not H-1Bs). Seattle housing market continues to grow, lots of available jobs and competitive salaries, thank you MS. I heard one in 100 applicants is hired by MS. I assume you must have been one of the other 99. Those who can, do and those who can't complain :-)
It might be their skills don't match the job openings. (It *is* common in other industries.)
If you specialize in LINUX and Java support, you can hardly expect MS to hire you. ;-) On the other hand, if you're fluent in C#, XNS, or Sharepoint (expecially the latter) MS may have a high-paying job for you in North Dakota. Of course, if you prefer to abreviate Microsoft as M$, you *probably* won't be happy there. Methinks tere is big disconnect between what the online IT community *thinks* is happening and what is really happening out in the real world.
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The Silicon Valley online payments startup grew by 1,000 percent last year and is hopeful it can repeat that level of growth this year. To do that, it's had to move away from its early friends-and-family roots and embrace small businesses.
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
The spirit of the our visa law:
The mission of the Department of Labor (DOL), Foreign Labor Certification office, is to permit U.S. employers to hire aliens, on a temporary or permanent basis, provided there aren't U.S. workers "able, willing and qualified" to fill the positions and admission of aliens won't adversely affect American workers.
should be followed.
Instead, while there are underemployed and unemployed Americans with Computer Science degrees looking for work, corporations like Microsoft will hire foreign workers. Don't believe that it is for the skills because foreigners line up to come to the US to go to MIT, etc. It is for cheaper labor and Microsoft should be ashamed of its practices and how they are undermining the American workforce.
This practice is spreading to many service sector professions.
Investigate the side of the story you don't hear on the news:
Please read "Debunking The Myth Of The Desperate Software Labor Shortage" by Dr. Norman Matloff.
It is available on the internet. He testified to Congress first back in 1998, and still the H-1B foreign visa worker program grows.
If you specialize in LINUX and Java support, you can hardly expect MS to hire you. ;-)
On the other hand, if you're fluent in C#, XNS, or Sharepoint (expecially the latter) MS may have a high-paying job for you in North Dakota.
Of course, if you prefer to abreviate Microsoft as M$, you *probably* won't be happy there.
Methinks tere is big disconnect between what the online IT community *thinks* is happening and what is really happening out in the real world.