Source:
BusinessWeek13 Nov 2009, 1810 hrs IST, BusinessWeek
Many within techdom complain about U.S. companies that use cheap, offshore labor or guest foreign workers in place of domestic employees. Few are doing much about it. A noteworthy exception is Arthur Langer. His New York nonprofit organization, Workforce Outsource Services, is trying to provide alternatives to foreign tech workers, including those on H-1B visas, by granting scholarships to low-income students and placing them in multiyear work-study programs in companies while they work toward undergraduate degrees. "We have an incredible source of talent in this country that can work for competitive prices," says Langer, a technology consultant and adjunct professor at Columbia University. "You don't have to go to India for labor."
The organization began as an academic project nine years ago, became a company in 2005, and is now expanding in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. So far, 120 students have graduated, and a further 65 are enrolled. Langer ultimately hopes to put thousands of youngsters through the program. He believes it's at a turning point. "We have proved it can work, and we're scaling up now," he says.
Langer, an expert in technology management, began the project after seeing many young people from poor communities go to college but fail to complete degree programs. The reason: They are under intense pressure to get into the workforce and earn money, or they are averse to piling up loan debt without the certainty that they will get good jobs after graduation. So he founded Workforce Outsource Services to help students earn degrees without financial strain.
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