Trump administration announces overhaul of H1B visa program requiring higher pay • Hacker News Board

Re: Trump administration announces overhaul of H1B visa program requiring higher pay

#441

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 12:31 AM UTC

nrmitchi wrote: post #33

I'll give you that, but it seems like a much simpler solution would have just been improving the flexibility for an H1B worker to be allowed to work at any employer for the term of their status. If an employer used an H1B in order to hire a foreign worker and then under pay them, the worker would just get another job that pays market rate, without the work status concern. Without the artificial control over the emplo…

I think part of this move is to keep tech jobs for Americans, not foreigners...hence why it's increasing the pay.

In any case, it aids in my job security.

Re: Trump administration announces overhaul of H1B visa program requiring higher pay

#442

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 12:32 AM UTC

victor106 wrote: post #46

I finally agree with something this administration is doing. This is a solid move. H1B has been/is being abused by all companies (big and small) for a number of years at the cost of not only American workers but also the visa holders. The only ones benefiting are the companies that sponsor H1B visas by suppressing wages for everyone. I just hope the new administration don't role back these changes. Typically when a n…

So will my google interview now be easier?

Re: Trump administration announces overhaul of H1B visa program requiring higher pay

#443

Post by mdorazio » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 12:34 AM UTC

tylerhou wrote: post #347

mikeyouse wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Body shops" like Infosys and Tata Consulting that import thousands of H1Bs under borderline fraudulent applications, and then underpay these employees. Just a random link, but the contours of the problem: https://www.epi.org/blog/new-data-infosys-tata-abuse-h-1b-pr...

Sure, there are low paid H1B workers, but why is that necessarily a problem? Your link shows no evidence that they depress the wages or employment of native-born workers. In fact, there are many proper economic analyses that show that native-born workers benefit from immigration: https://www.reddit.com/r/badeconomics/comments/3pi8vo/highsk...

As a data point, a consultancy I used to work for competed directly with Infosys, Tata, and other H1B shops for tech contracts (mostly BA and PM work). I can personally guarantee you that hourly rates were artificially reduced as a result at multiple companies, which negatively impacted salaries and bonuses of American workers.

Keep in mind that most economic analyses of this topic ignore the direct competition aspect of the contract labor market impacted by H1Bs and instead focus on salaried FTEs at the businesses that contractors provide services to.

Re: Trump administration announces overhaul of H1B visa program requiring higher pay

#444

Post by koboll » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 12:35 AM UTC

tequila_shot wrote: post #406

swyx wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how much higher wages are we talking? skimmed the ruling and didnt see anything.

The rule doesn't say. It looks like something that was part of the original plan but removed. I don't see it anywhere in the PDF linked above.

So... the title of this submission is wrong?

Re: Trump administration announces overhaul of H1B visa program requiring higher pay

#445

Post by aloukissas » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 12:35 AM UTC

"The only exception to this rule is for fashion models, who aren’t required to have college degrees." - I just can't stop laughing with how on-brand this is :)

Re: Trump administration announces overhaul of H1B visa program requiring higher pay

#446

Post by hn_throwaway_99 » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 12:36 AM UTC

mekoka wrote: post #402

Maybe there's something I'm missing about the appeal of H1B, but I don't understand why this announcement would be a big game changer in a post-Covid-19 world. Organizations are in the midst of more drastic adaptations and H1B appears as relevant as the DVD in a world of video streaming. My understanding is that it allowed organizations that were more comfortable doing things the "traditional way", show up to work ev…

As someone who has worked with lots of remote teams, I'll give you a simple answers: timezones matter. A lot. Especially for relatively early stage companies where tight collaboration on new products is key. I have actually refused, and will continue to refuse, work that requires me to collaborate with someone 11.5 hours different. It sucks for everyone involved.

Years ago I had a job when I worked noon-5 and then 10pm-1am to overlap with colleagues in India. At first I thought "Hey, I'm a night owl, this will be great." I grew to hate it pretty quickly, and I'll never do it again.

Contrarily, I've worked with colleagues in Brazil who were only 2 or 3 hours off from me, and it worked out great.

Re: Trump administration announces overhaul of H1B visa program requiring higher pay

#447

Post by ummonk » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 12:36 AM UTC

ravila4 wrote: post #434

I feel like this thread has a lot of bias coming from bad experiences in the computer science field. While I do understand the bad practices of many tech companies, I think the picture is very different when you look at careers in other STEM fields, such as biology, chemistry, and physics. H1B visas are very important for foreign students in these fields particularly those hoping to pursue careers in academia. H1B vi…

If their projects are that important we should be spending more on them so they meet the minimum pay requirements.

Re: Trump administration announces overhaul of H1B visa program requiring higher pay

#448

Post by asabjorn » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 12:36 AM UTC

ravila4 wrote: post #434

I feel like this thread has a lot of bias coming from bad experiences in the computer science field. While I do understand the bad practices of many tech companies, I think the picture is very different when you look at careers in other STEM fields, such as biology, chemistry, and physics. H1B visas are very important for foreign students in these fields particularly those hoping to pursue careers in academia. H1B vi…

The problem with how academic and science work is currently structured is that there is an oversupply of labor at basement-dwelling compensation. Post-docs work for decades before getting better opportunities, and people are cheap labor in industry labs for long periods of time.

Foreign workers are partially compensated for low pay with a potential visa to stay, while this extra motivation is not there for Americans.

Having a native pipeline of education to knowledge work is important for long term competitiveness and is hard rebuild. If the US falls upon even harder times the foreign pipeline will dry up.

Re: Trump administration announces overhaul of H1B visa program requiring higher pay

#449

Post by koboll » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 12:37 AM UTC

sedatk wrote: post #319

chairmanwow1 wrote: post #189

Overall, I really support these changes. However, this piece really struck me as a big mistake: "Under the changes, an applicant must have a college degree in the specific field in which he or she is looking to work. A software developer, for example, wouldn’t be awarded an H-1B visa if that person has a degree in electrical engineering." Some of the best software engineers I know are graduate degree holders from neu…

I’m a high school graduate and a self-taught developer. I got hired by Microsoft as a software engineer to the Microsoft Windows Core OS team based on my skills with an H-1B. I made Microsoft millions of dollars with my work. I’m now writing a book on software development published by Manning Books. None of that would have happened if such a criteria existed. That policy doesn’t make any sense at all.

It makes sense insofar as it's designed to reduce the odds of successfully obtaining an H1B.

Remember, this was shepherded by Stephen Miller and others in the administration whose explicit aim is reducing immigration by every lever available.

Re: Trump administration announces overhaul of H1B visa program requiring higher pay

#450

Post by djsumdog » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 12:37 AM UTC

mekoka wrote: post #402

Maybe there's something I'm missing about the appeal of H1B, but I don't understand why this announcement would be a big game changer in a post-Covid-19 world. Organizations are in the midst of more drastic adaptations and H1B appears as relevant as the DVD in a world of video streaming. My understanding is that it allowed organizations that were more comfortable doing things the "traditional way", show up to work ev…

You do realize this world won't last right? There are a lot of states opening up. Hollywood currently is churning losses because they can't release anything. States are opening up and there are very few fatalities.

Some people love 100% remote and choose it, but there a HUGE number of people who do want to be back in the office, at least one or two days a week anyway.