“Workers who help process millions of visa and citizenship applications for a federal immigration agency are getting pay reductions just as the agency is facing an enormous surge in those applications.”
“The workers whose wage rate will be cut are contract employees in document processing centers in St. Albans, Vt., and Laguna Niguel, Calif., that are part of Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for deciding visa applications and citizenship petitions. Some 280 of approximately 1,000 contract workers in the two centers will receive lower wages after a new contractor, Stanley Inc. of Arlington, Va., takes over tomorrow.”
So today’s article in the NY Times, we find out that INS has granted a contract to Stanley, Inc. to provide clerical work at the St. Albans and Laguna Nigel centers (Stanley’s original press release on 24 September can be viewed here). Why is this so interesting? Obviously from an a recruiting POV, we’re concerned with the fact that these centers alone handle millions of Visa apps. From an HR POV, this new contract has many existing workers now facing significant wage cuts based upon the contract numbers. Again, so why the issue?
Seems as if no one at Stanley bothered to ask about existing wages when they placed the bid. So naturally, a low bid would have been appealing to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and obviously less appealing to those who would be earning these wages!
Even more, “the new contract is based on performance and does not specify how many workers Stanley should hire. But Stanley is required to pay according to federal regulations that classify jobs and set their hourly wages.”
Oy vey!
Nothing like more agita when it comes the visas…
The Recruiting Inferno 