Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: kemble s. matter who wrote (155065)	3/14/2000 12:36:00 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Hi Kemble! Comments from Michael. :)Leigh austin360.com Dell calls for more workers from abroad CEO: Only foreign laborers can fill void in technology By Marilyn Geewax American-Statesman Staff Posted: March 14, 2000 FAIRFAX, Va. -- High-tech companies are facing worker shortages so severe that only an infusion of foreign labor can help, Dell Computer Corp. Chief Executive Michael Dell said Monday. Congress should move quickly to approve legislation raising the annual limit on the number of high-skilled immigrants allowed to enter the country on H-1B visas, he said. "The cap should definitely be increased because there is a huge shortage of workers," Dell said at the Global Internet Summit at George Mason University in Northern Virginia. "If you want to bring wealth to this country, you'll bring in knowledgable workers." Today's tight labor pool is driving up the cost of doing business, he said. "What happens is the limited supply of workers who actually have the skills get bid up, just like Internet stocks," Dell said. Spiraling wages in this country could spur U.S. employers to expand overseas, he warned. Congress is considering several bills that would boost the annual limit on H-1B visas from 115,000 to as much as 195,000. Dell blamed the worker shortage on educators who are failing to teach young people the skills they need to get jobs in the economy's booming technology sector. "The education system needs to fundamentally embrace the idea of computing being a central skill," he said. Assuming Round Rock-based Dell can find workers in coming years, the company has "a massive opportunity" to grow along with the Internet, he said. Besides making personal computers, the company will be focusing on building the Internet infrastructure. When it comes to the Internet, "there is a huge buildout that has yet to come," he said. Dell said his company was hurt last year by a shortage of components, but with that problem now solved, the company is "in a great position." The growth of hand-held, high-tech devices such as the Palm Pilot are not a threat to Dell Computer because consumers still want big-screen personal computers, he said. On a Palm Pilot or a cell phone, "you just can't display that much information," he said. In the future, people will use phone-size devices "for small bits of information," he said. "But the PC takes on the role for (handling) more complex information." Dell also said that if Congress were to allow states to impose sales taxes on interstate retail transactions, his company would be able to adapt to the change without losing business. But he warned that because cyberspace is borderless, U.S. online retailers might move operations overseas to avoid taxes.