Surprise: Bill Gates Wants More H-1B Workers

March 8, 2007, Seattle, WA

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates thinks expanding the H-1B visa program to admit 300,000 temporary workers a year would be "a fantastic improvement" over the current annual limit of 65,000.

In testimony to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee, Gates said the massive expansion was necessary to make America more competitive in the global economy.

But in a written statement to the committee, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson said Gates' plan would make today's bad situation for IT and professional workers far worse. "The H-1B program has become the preferred mechanism for employers in professional and technical sectors to keep labor standards from rising," she wrote.