. >> reporter: the conversation brought attention to the vees program designed to the visaprogram. each year the u.s. issues 80,000 h 1b visas. the rest must at least have a bachelor's degree. tech giants in silicon valley are pushing to expand those numbers, arguing there's a shortage of skilled workers in the u.s. robert hoffman is a lobbyist for the tech industry. >> there are hundreds of thousands of jobs that are going unfilled in this country. unless we address it with better workforce policies, education and training policies those jobs will find themselves off shore. >> arguing companies are actually seeking cheap labor. >> they're not coming in to fill skills gaps. and we know they're not filling skills gaps because they are forcing the american workers who have the higher skills to train their foreign replacement. >> critics point disney, in june the new york times broke a story, that replacements on h 1b visas, layoffs for 35 tech workers were cancelled. a shall outcry erupted at utility's southern california edison when information technology workers were reported to be