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H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

economist.com

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Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#361

Post by taway_1212 »

an_cap wrote: post #258

Suppose we lived in an America in which if a black person wanted to work in the tech industry they had to get a special license from the federal government called the H-1Black license. Nobody here on HN would then be discussing if companies were abusing the H-1Black system or whether H-1Black workers were being paid less than the going market rate. A minimally decent person would notice that the obviously correct thi…

There's plenty of similar discrimination going on already in trades in professions. Essentially, doctors or unionized skilled workers prefer to give openings in their profession to their kin. With "discrimination" based on nationality it's the same thing, except that you're giving preferential treatment to your fellow Americans. It's not hard to see why given that, as an American, you and most/all of people you care about (family, friends) are likely Americans as well. It's just taking care of people who are important in your life.

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#362

Post by shimon_e »

lazyasciiart wrote: post #335
shimon_e wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a ton of Americans studying medicine in India. Simply because its cheaper. So it goes both ways. I'm pretty sure these Americans plan on working in America after residency.

Really? I've never heard of people doing that, how many is "a ton" and how realistic is their hope to practice in the US?

The bars in Bangalore are filled with medical students. There are always a handful of Americans studying with them. I have a few friends who graduated recently and are now back in America doing their residency.

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#363

Post by vorg »

robk wrote: post #308
rajathagasthya wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in any case, we should let every person seeking higher education in the US work indefinitely in this country This is the discussion that's always missing whenever H1B is discussed anywhere. It always gets hijacked by Indian IT companies abusing the system. Does the administration have a plan on how to deal with students who get their degrees from US universities, who also seek H1Bs to work? If they don't make this…

But then Infosys sets up Infosys University and calls all their applicants students

and pay them "Scholarships" if they pass their previous term assignment successfully maintaining the codebase of whoever they're interning for.

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#364

Post by [deleted] »

gragas wrote: post #200

>I assure you, most american-born students get a free pass in stanford/berkeley/CMU if you pit them against a foreign-born. You have no idea what you're talking about. I have first hand experience with this and Americans don't "get a free pass" by any means. Also, what about black people and hispanic people? Are they the lowest earners in America by far because they "don't want to make $$"? According to common consen…

[deleted]

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#365

Post by FooBarJmp »

shimon_e wrote: post #362
lazyasciiart wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I've never heard of people doing that, how many is "a ton" and how realistic is their hope to practice in the US?

The bars in Bangalore are filled with medical students. There are always a handful of Americans studying with them. I have a few friends who graduated recently and are now back in America doing their residency.

Go check the numbers on how many over seas medical students come back state side and actually end up as medical doctors. Passing the board exam and getting into residency programs is a lot harder these days, since most programs are aware that this is happening.

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#366

Post by FooBarJmp »

xtreme wrote: post #336
cscurmudgeon wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost no student pays for PhD or MS programs in the top universities. If you look at the post graduate programs of top universities, it is still dominated by non US students. Why do you think that is the case?

It's mostly economics and a bit of societal incentives. For an American CS graduate, the opportunity cost of joining grad school is too high. It makes more sense to join the industry immediately and start paying back the massive loans. For an Indian college graduate, it makes more sense to spend 2-5 years in the grad school if it means getting a job in the US later. With little or no loans to pay back, the earning po…

Yes, Indian people tend to value higher education and cheating.

Just look at all these articles on cheating in India. http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/03/20/pkg-walker-india-... http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36431885 http://www.latimes.com/world/great-reads/la-fg-c1-india-test...

Let's be honest. Americans cheat too, but not to this level.

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#367

Post by rayiner »

clairity wrote: post #136
dmitrygr wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing is, nobody wants that effect. We want the PhDs. What we do not want it companies that bring in cheap barely-qualified labour for cost-cutting. This hurts the people brought in (they are stuck in bad jobs with bad pay and no way out). This hurts the local workers who cost too much compared to this effectively-slave-labour. The hard part changing the rules such that PhDs and other productive uses of H1B do not su…

"This hurts the people brought in (they are stuck in bad jobs with bad pay and no way out)." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i agree with everything you said except for this part. many of the indian workers are still better off economically than they might otherwise be, even if they are not as well off as their american counterparts. in any case, we should let every person seeking higher education in the US work indefinitely in this…

> in any case, we should let every person seeking higher education in the US work indefinitely in this country, not just PhDs. in fact, anyone who wants to work hard should be allowed in. all such workers will accrue a net economic benefit, as the new workers will generate more value than they consume.

A country is more than just an economy of value-producing workers.

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#368

Post by gautamdivgi »

adrr wrote: post #30

Easiest solution is to inflation adjust min salary of $60,000 set back in 1989 and have the limit follow inflation. Lawmakers have this tendency to not build in inflation adjustments(eg: AMT tax limit,min wage) which causes lot issues down the road.

There are a couple of easy solutions, increasing the min salary is one. This works for the tech sector but may not for some others. Other solutions include:

1. Do not provide a lottery. Approve by highest salary per occupational code/section. This will make sure wages are "high". 2. Mandate that beneficiaries of the H1B actually start employment and receive pay within 2 months of approval. This will ensure that companies don't just "hoard" H1B's. 3. Mandate a minimum of 1 years' work in the US per entry into the country unless employment is terminated due to forced loss.

The program has been misused. It's high time that is rectified.

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#369

Post by [deleted] »

bingomad123 wrote: post #152
molyss wrote: post #10

"Given that the unemployment rate for college graduates sits at 2.5%, it is fair to say that most native workers displaced by H-1Bs land on their feet." That's completely ignoring the fact that if you have cheaper workers, you end up being underpaid and/or doing a job you'd rather not be doing. Unemployment rate alone don't tell the whole story, and failing to acknowledge that sounds like poor/partial journalism to m…

> That's completely ignoring the fact that if you have cheaper workers Cheaper labor is good just like cheaper raw material. Trump wants American companies to buy expensive American steel instead of cheaper Japanese or Chinese steel of same quality. This is a net loss for American economy and a state sponsored coercive benefit for the American Steel industry. Personally it is both productive and economically benefici…

[deleted]

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#370

Post by ouesp »

H1B as I see it.

American corporations want to make profit year over year. (The announcing the quarterly or annual reports ? )

IT jobs has a tradition of being highly paid. When the revenues are less, the course of action is to cut the expenses and hence the salaries. So if a corporation want to make profit, they can hire workers with the minimum lawful wage. Indian bodyshops are catering to that demand. Its that simple.

Cutting salaries or firing American workers will lead to PR nightmare. So American companies hire bodyshops or majorly Indian IT outsourcing companies like TCS or Infosys to do the IT jobs.

Most enterprise IT do not need high skills. ( I mean who wants to know about data structures or Big O to make a CRUD application or write queries ? ). So a major chunk of Indian IT workers fit in that category.

So American enterprises get the work done at a cheaper rate in India or through the H1B worker. So no firing or salary cuts for the American worker.

Fire an H1B worker, he will keep silent and go back to his country if he is a fulltime worker. If he is from a bodyshop, he will be deployed to another location in the US. No PR nightmare for the corporate company.

In a nutshell:

Indian outsourcing firms are only here because American corporations want more profit and revenues are not that great. Stop being greedy and outsourcing will end, that includes H1B too.

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