US SHOULDN'T KILL HI-TECH TALENT: STEVE BALLMER

Source: The Economic Times

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer provided a window into his family?s immigrant past to make a case for America keeping its doors wide open to allow the best and brightest to work in the land of opportunity.

The son of a Swiss immigrant father and a Jewish-American mother, the 53-year-old evoked the example of his parents as he spoke of his unease with the protectionist measures that are being planned by the new Obama administration.

?My father was an immigrant right after World War II when he went to work for the US Army as an interpreter in the Nuremberg war crimes trial. And then he met Americans in the army who sponsored him to migrate to the US in 1949,? Ballmer said in an interview to ET on Tuesday.

?We are prepared to participate in broader immigration reform which allows us to bring hitech talent. My father, my mother?s parents were all immigrants. It?s a great thing for the US,? he said in response to a question about the brouhaha over H1B visas. American companies having overseas operations are worried about President Barack Obama?s proposed taxes on income earned abroad, and India?s top tech firms such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro are anxious about rising anti-offshoring sentiment in the US.

Ballmer said his initial reaction was that such tax proposals are not good for business and that his company would continue to hire skilled professionals in countries such as India and China if Microsoft is unable to employ them in the US.

Microsoft, which was criticised by US Senator Chuck Grassley for retaining and hiring more foreign workers even as it announced plans to lay off around 5,000 employees, is one of the biggest users for H1B work permits issued by the US to skilled migrants from countries such as India.

?We opened a development lab in Vancouver of Canada because we could not get visas for everybody, and the Canadians were willing to give visas,? Ballmer said. ?If the US government allows us, we will have those people to work for us in the US, but if the government does not allow us, we are prepared to have those people work elsewhere, whether it be here in India or in China.?

Regarding President Obama?s plans to tax overseas earnings of American companies to create more local jobs, Ballmer said he would wait for more details. ?I think the government have to be thoughtful because there are unintended consequences: will their actions create jobs in the US, or will they tend to drive even more jobs out of the US. In general, business is saying this is not a good thing,? he said. Ballmer, who had offered to buy Internet search rival Yahoo last year to compete with Google, said Microsoft is seeking to develop its own technology for search.

?People still speculate, but I have made it clear: they turned down our offer, it?s fine and we will move on. The truth is in this economic condition I am glad they did not accept the offer of $33 (per share). They might be sad they did not accept an offer for $33, but we crossed the bridge and now we are exploring other opportunities,? he said.