Information Technology and Ethics/Non-traditional Workers

Contingent Workers
Companies use contingent workers for job situations in which an individual does not have an explicit contract for long-term employment. Contingent workers includes independent contractors and temporary workers. Companies use contingent workers when they have an increased need for personnel. Temporary staffing firms recruit, train and test job seekers in large range of job skills. Temporary work appeal to most people who want and/ or need the flexibility in their work schedule. This also gives them more job experience, this means employees may have more skills. Employers sometimes transfers all or part of its workforce to another firm. The leasing firm handles all human resources related activities and costs. Business also obtain employees from consulting firm. There are advantages to using contingent employees Disadvantages for using Contingent workers
 * Firm does not have to provide benefits
 * Can easily adjust the number of workers
 * Can easily release workers.
 * Contingent workers may already be specialist
 * Contingent workers may not feel strong connection to the company.
 * Skills employees gain from projects is lost to the company when they leave.

H-1B Workers
H-1B is a temporary work visa granted by the USCIS. These people work specialty jobs that require at least a four year bachelors degree (in the USA, 3 years elsewhere) in a specific field.An H1B worker is allowed to work for 6 years then they must leave the U.S. for one year before they can be allowed  to petition for another visa. H1B workers make up only 0.1% of the U.S. almost 40% of them are employed in the IT industry. Every year congress sets a federal cap on the number of H-1B visas to be granted, this year the limit is 65,000 visas. 6,800 of those visas are reserved for nationals of Singapore and Chile. Foreign workers who teach in American universities, work in government research labs or nonprofit organizations. H1b workers may be exploited because unethical companies may classify them as an entry level worker, but they are actually doing the job of an experienced tech. Companies may also state that their employees work in an area where wages are lower, but they may actually live and work somewhere different.

Outsourcing
Outsourcing is a long-term business arrangement in which a company contracts for services with an outside organization that has expertise in providing a certain function.The outside organization may perform  the following services operating data center, support for telecommunications network, or staffing a help-desk. The reason for outsourcing is to lower costs and strategic flexibility. Offshore outsourcing is the outsourcing of jobs to organization who employees live in a foreign country.