Here is what I read:

Microsoft is building a training center.
They will be training folks from Canada as well as folks from other countries.

Microsoft Obscuristan has a young person they would like to train so they send him to the Microsoft training center in Canada.

They are not bringing them here to sew shirts in a sweatshop (or any IT equivalant) they are bringing them here to train.

It is a net benefit to Canada. It has a net positive effect on jobs available to Canadians.

From:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/r...

They plan to double their current workforce by adding approximately 400 jobs. These positions will include paid internships for Canadian students and long-term employees.

This program will also bring international employees into 18-month (see note below) rotational training positions.

Note: Even though Microsoft’s Rotational Program is generally 18 months in duration, a 24-month work permit will be issued so that the employee may continue to perform Rotational Program job duties until they are transitioned by Microsoft into a new position elsewhere.
Extensions

No work permit extensions will be issued for this program.

As for the shortage, it's not that hard to find a person for a level 1 or 2 help desk, staging technician, etc. (it's still not that easy) It is a challenge and takes some time to recruit a level 3+ tech who can visit a site and design a system to improve their productivity or solve a data flow problem.

Our company pays $1,000 to anyone who refers an applicant for an advertised position. We probably pay a lot more to recruiting firms.

I would rescue the above from Flamebait if I had points. It's on-topic for this thread (sort-of). Whether you agree with it or not, it fits here.

If the oil companies had their way, the spill would not have taken place. The Business Proposal was the Mackenzie Valley pipeline. The environmental folks opposed it because it. There were hearings and it was denied. "The noise of construction might frighten the caribou.!", etc.

Interesting article at the Internet Storm Center "Why Flame is Lame"
http://isc.sans.edu/diary.html?storyid=13342#comment

I applied for their Beta program for the Playbook SDK and received the reply below a couple weeks later;
Our company uses several custom-developed applications on several hundred blackberries. We have five professional software developers and a couple dozen amateur hacker-geeks. The Playbook's technical capabilities blows away any other tablet but is currently useless as a business tool. A company with a BES server could implement Playbooks tomorrow with very little concern about security IF there were applications.
The guys are testing Citrix on it now and it appears to be ok but until there are other remote apps (Teamviewer, RDP) None of the techies will use it for anything other than a toy gadget.
RIM won't allow us to have a native SDK for the Playbook because they want to focus on games??!!
I used to like Novell too.

================
Thank you for your application to participate in the closed beta for the Native SDK for BlackBerry Tablet OS. We have received a large number of requests to join the beta, including yours, and apologize for the delay in responding
As we discussed in our blog post (http://devblog.blackberry.com/2011/08/native-sdk-for-blackberry-tablet-os-closed-beta/) the focus for the beta was game developers who would be leveraging OpenGL ES to create or port games to the platform. As your application currently stands, you did not meet the initial beta criteria, and we are unable to provide you with access today. We have added your name to the list for access to the beta when it’s opened up to a broader audience. We appreciate your patience and look forward to seeing your native application running on PlayBook in the near future. Please check the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog for updates or follow us at @BlackBerryDev.
Thanks,
BlackBerry Developer Relations Team

Our company (In Canada) uses Websense for web filtering
Content blocked by your organization
Reason:
This Websense category is filtered: Advocacy Groups.
URL:
http://www.defendwisconsin.org/

A lot of folks use third party web filtering services like websense. Websense also places www.rightwingnews.com in the same category.

If one of our users "Needed" to access that site they would open a call with support who would unblock it.

Cisco, Trend, Symantec and others would operate similarly.

Ten or so years ago, our trucking division experimented with such a program. It ran on a PC and had a controller with a single knob which could be rotated left or right.

You used the knob to keep the cursor in the center spot on the screen. The cursor would become more difficult to control during the test (about 30 seconds)

Drivers would sign in for the first time and establish a baseline for themselves by taking the test multiple times until the program indicated that a baseline was established. (About a dozen attempts, I think)

Once a baseline was established, a driver had to pass the test before starting his shift. If he failed, he had to see a supervisor.

I tested it on myself. After two (unmeasured) shots of vodka, I would have had to see a supervisor were I a driver.

An additional advantage was that you would also fail the test if you had the flu, were sleep-deprived or emotionally unfit to drive.

The program never went into full production at our place. Currently drivers are tested when hired and after any accident or delivery process incident.

I forget what it was called (I tried googling). I thought it was "fair". If you couldn't pass the test, you probably shouldn't drive a truck that day.

If you smoked a joint a week ago, it wouldn't affect the test but if you were up all night watching movies, you'd likely fail.