To H-1B or Not to H-1B

Laying off tech workers could become a lot messier if foreigners are involved.

Remember, many tech companies in recent years hired thousands of workers, mainly from India, China and western Europe, under special permits called H-1B visas. If these people wind up getting the boot, they automatically lose their legal right to stay in the country and are supposed to leave immediately.

“The law is that if you lose your job, you are out of status and you have to leave, unless you already have another visa application pending,” said Greg Siskind, an immigration lawyer with Siskind, Susser, Haas and Devine in Memphis, Tenn., in a wire service story.

In 1998, the yearly quota of such H-1B workers was raised from 65,000 to 115,000. In 2000, it went up to 195,000 for each of the next three years. See our story from back in October

Which Consumers are Confident Now?

Investors on Tuesday may have been celebrating the surprisingly strong consumer confidence numbers that were released in the morning.

However, given the rash of giant layoffs announced since the numbers were released, it is very clear that not as many consumers will be so upbeat the next time they are polled.

Let’s look at the announcements just since Tuesday afternoon:

ADC Telecommunications, supplier of fiber optic equipment for broadband networks, said it plans to cut its work force by 3,000 to 4,000 employees by the end of October. It also warned that fiscal second-quarter financial results are expected to fall below previous estimates.

The Walt Disney Co. said it will cut 4,000 jobs, or about 3 percent of its 120,000 global workforce.

Palm said it will cut 250 employees.

Nortel Networks said it will can another 15,000 people by mid- 2001. The company has already cut close to 10,000 jobs, or about 10 percent of its staff, and said it would see benefits from those reductions in the second quarter of 2001.

American Greetings Corp. said it would cut 1,500 jobs, or 13 percent of its workforce, to reduce costs and meet demand for cheaper greeting cards.

Chinadotcom Corp. said it will cut jobs, shed non-core operations and consolidate offices. The company didn’t specify the size of the job cuts but said it will employ fewer than 2,000 people by the end of the second quarter. Chinadotcom had 2,417 employees as of Dec. 31.

Internet consulting firm Viant Corp. said it would cut 211 jobs, more than a third of its work force, and close offices in Houston, San Francisco and Munich because of falling demand.

Agere to Go Public on Wednesday

Well, it looks like Agere will finally launch its IPO.

Last night it priced 600 million shares at $6 apiece. It is expected to begin trading Wednesday under the ticker symbol “AGR.”

Last week, the Lucent Technologies spinoff delayed its offering and halved its anticipated issue price to between $6 and $7 apiece while increasing the number of shares it plans to peddle to 600 million from 500 million.

In other IPO news:

Wildblue Communications Inc., a satellite-based Internet access provider whose backers include EchoStar Communications Corp. and TRW Inc., withdrew its planned IPO on Tuesday. The Denver-based company was hoping to raise $200 million and use the net proceeds for capital expenditures, including satellites and ground infrastructure, working capital and other general corporate purposes. Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette was hired to manage the IPO.

Odyssey Re Holdings Corp., a U.S.-based underwriter of property and casualty reinsurance that is being spun off by Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., filed to go public.

Debt News

Moody’s Investors Service cut Polaroid Corp.’s credit and debt ratings three notches, saying the company suffers from weakness in its core business and will face competitive challenges as the U.S. economy slows. Moody’s cut Polaroid’s senior unsecured debt rating to “B3,” its sixth highest junk grade from ”Ba3” and its bank loan rating to “B2” from “Ba2.” It also cut its senior implied rating to “B2” from “Ba2.” The ratings affect about $900 million of debt and Moody’s rating outlook is negative.

American Home Products Corp. sold $3 billion of notes in three parts in the private placement market. The size of the deal was decreased from an originally planned $3.5 billion. Salomon Smith Barney and J.P. Morgan were the joint lead- managers for the underwriting, which was rated A3 by Moody’s and Single- A by S&P. The $500-million tranche, which matures in 2004, was priced to yield 5.924 percent, 140 basis points above Treasuries. The second tranche, which came to $1 billion, was priced to yield 6.254 percent, or 158 points over Treasuries and matures in 2006. Lastly, a $1.5 billion tranche, which matures in 10 years, was priced to yield 6.725 percent, 175 points over Treasuries.

Sunoco Inc. priced $200 million worth of 6.75 percent, 10-year notes at 99.426 percent to yield 6.830 percent, or 198 points over Treasuries. It was rated Baa2/BBB.

From the CFO.com “Brief” Case

Luxembourg-based Societe Europeenne des Satellites agreed to buy General Electric Co.’s satellite unit, GE Americom Communications, for $5 billion in cash and stock, creating one of the global leaders in the satellite services business. SES said it had created a new company, SES Global, which will pay GE $2.7 billion in cash and 15.4 million new SES Global shares for GE Americom.

DA Consulting Group Inc., a corporate education consulting firm, on Wednesday said it expects to become profitable this month but will report a loss for the first quarter ending March 31.