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New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#51

Post by mattbrewsbytes »

Really what they need to change are the accounting loopholes. When I was working at a large employer most of the offshored work was under 'services contracts' where the legal wordings were such that it looks like services are being rendered for a specific purpose. This is to avoid having those people show up as labor on a P&L which affects the corprate bottom line.

What actually happens is behind these agreements are a team of people with an onshore presence and the actual employees overseeing the on/offshore work prefer to work with the same set of people. Once you get a team and rhythm going on work, it made things easier to predict. So both sides want to game this 'services contract' to have the same team for literally years.

If they make corporations count all of the on/offshore people as contractual labor in their accounting practices, which is what they actually are, then companies will be hit negatively in their P&L statements. These are essentially jobs which used to be done onshore so they certainly weren't 'talent can't be found' types of roles.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#52

Post by Clubber »

nicolas_t wrote: post #11
Shivetya wrote: post #4

so is this catching up or exceeding the rate of inflation? How was this salary number not tied to inflation or another index? If anything it seems to me to be a benefit to those seeking employment who have real skills and ability.

If the $60,000 from 1989 had been indexed on inflation, it would be $115,000 now. So, 130k doesn't seem so unreasonable. Of course, that does exclude states and cities with a lower cost of living. It would really make more sense to just index it to inflation or even better to the cost of live of the city where the employee would work (but that would potentially leave some loopholes)

>just index it to inflation

It's so that politicians can fight every few years it needs to be raised and say, "vote for me, I fight for wages." On the other side of their mouth, on the years they don't fight for an increase, they can go to businesses, "donate to me, or I might have to fight to raise minimum wage this year."

The minimum wage fight a few years ago is a prime example of this.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#53

Post by Retric »

gregw2 wrote: post #23
Retric wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's slightly more than inflation, but as it does not index to inflation it's going to quickly become meaningless.

Read the article. It is indexed to 35% above the median wage for a computer worker according to some of existing Department of Labor category. That median wage presumably will indirectly rise with inflation, so it's better than the previous static # and arguably more tied to the intent of the statute than even pure inflation indexing would be.

I doubt that category is really as fixed as you are thinking. At one point fast food prep was categorized as factory workers to make some statistics look different.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#54

Post by koolba »

mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #51

Really what they need to change are the accounting loopholes. When I was working at a large employer most of the offshored work was under 'services contracts' where the legal wordings were such that it looks like services are being rendered for a specific purpose. This is to avoid having those people show up as labor on a P&L which affects the corprate bottom line. What actually happens is behind these agreements are…

Contractual labor is a service. If it wasn't, it'd be employment. Both show up the same way on a P&L statement; they're both expenses.

It's all the additional regulation and requirements for employment (healthcare coverage, disability insurance, termination protection) that companies want to avoid by hiring contractors.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#55

Post by xtreme »

ebbv wrote: post #13

Reading the article it doesn't sound like this bill does anything to make it easier for the employee to find a different job once they are here (e.g. Making it easier for other employers to take on sponsorship of the H1-B visa.) The article says this bill makes it easier for students to get a path to citizenship but doesn't say anything about H1-B workers. I also don't think the salary requirement is necessarily a wi…

> The article says this bill makes it easier for students to get a path to citizenship but doesn't say anything about H1-B workers.

My understanding of the text is that it just makes student visas "dual-intent". This would allow prospective students to get an F-1 visa without having to prove that they have no intention of staying back after completing their degree. It's an open secret that a large percentage of students actually want to work after graduating and many intend to naturalize eventually. This would spare them having to lie on the application. Other than this change, the bill does not do anything to make it easier for students.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#56

Post by hocuspocus »

thr1234567 wrote: post #35
readhn wrote: post #22

Whoever is working on the bill is disconnected from reality and the damage it is doing long term here. Why's everyone so focused on IT? Everyone can learn how to code, it's not a real science.. Oh it's hacker news :) Now walk into any major university science department. See who the newly minted PhD students are in biology, chemistry, physics, math ... Most are foreigners. This bill will send them home after they gra…

I don't think academic jobs are covered in this. The current system also has exemptions for academic H1-B workers (no lottery).

Also, hard science PhD students are typically hired on J-1 (when they stay in academia/research) or O-1 visas (if they find a relevant position the industry).

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#57

Post by readhn »

hocuspocus wrote: post #56
thr1234567 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think academic jobs are covered in this. The current system also has exemptions for academic H1-B workers (no lottery).

Also, hard science PhD students are typically hired on J-1 (when they stay in academia/research) or O-1 visas (if they find a relevant position the industry).

After you graduate you have to get h1b to work. Nobody is going to pay straight out of school biologist 130k.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#58

Post by pkd »

mnglkhn2 wrote: post #45
pkd wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing is that the whole of US isn't Silicon Valley or Seattle. Startups in upcoming hubs like Portland and Boulder will suffer(sic) because the salary requirements are too high for them to satisfy given the living costs. It basically means that the only companies who are gonna be able to hire through H1Bs are the big cos or unicorns.

Your assumption is that the startup will have a chance of growing only if it has access to H1B. Why would local talent not be enough for that startup?

That is not my assumption at all. It is about casting a wider net. In an ideal world, the talent a company needs is available instantly and locally. But the world isn't ideal. Sometimes the talent is available instantly but not locally.

Startups can't afford to train and develop developers as much as big companies can. It is in the interest of the startups to hire quickly and to hire as close to the profile they want to hire. Not being able to do that might stall progress at the desired pace.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#59

Post by thr1234567 »

aianus wrote: post #47
thr1234567 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> NYC and SFBA $130k Really ? Surely it can't be that expensive ?

It's not. Maybe he's assuming a stay at home wife and/or children which would be a stretch on $130k, it's true. You can live well and have savings as a single guy on $130k in both those areas.

How do the non-tech denizens manage ? I thought waitresses (and people in similar low-skilled jobs) barely made $30k ?

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#60

Post by angry_octet »

scarface74 wrote: post #16
pkd wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing is that the whole of US isn't Silicon Valley or Seattle. Startups in upcoming hubs like Portland and Boulder will suffer(sic) because the salary requirements are too high for them to satisfy given the living costs. It basically means that the only companies who are gonna be able to hire through H1Bs are the big cos or unicorns.

Companies may have to do something unimaginable and invest in their employees who may not have the exact skill set they need and offer them training or give them time to ramp up....

And yet that delay is antithetical to starting to work in a new area, innovating rapidly, etc. The ability to attract and retain employees from anywhere around the world is a massive advantage, and this sounds like a disincentive program.

I agree with you that training is part of the solution, but for niche applications that can be pretty hard, you're talking people who have studied for years. So if you are doing work like that, why wouldn't you set up in a country without such restrictions? E.g. Vancouver.

How about caps on the percentage of H1Bs/L1s in any company (e.g. 15%), and the ability for H1B workers to transfer employers?

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