21–30 of 93 posts
Artificial geographical lines segregating people artificially. Remove our set of welfare programs and let anyone that can make it here, live here.
A someone who benefited from the H1-B program I’m 100% behind the idea of adding higher wages requirements. I went to Carnegie Mellon and met some of the smartest people there and it crushed my heart seeing some super talented people lose on the lottery several times and be forced to go back home when they already had an employer in the US paying them 100k+ and willing to go great lengths to keep them. I was lucky en…
I’ve never understood why H1-B applications weren’t sorted by compensation (salary): higher salaries go first. Seems like a trivial way to prevent visa farming.
You may want to argue that "well then other companies don't deserve them if they can't compete with FAANG", or "then companies should pay SF wages everywhere" (which I sorta-agree with), or "then other industries should pay more!".
They may be valid points, but it is unreasonable to expect that another industry can compete salary-wise against FAANG at the moment, and it doesn't make their inability to find candidates locally any less true.
Regarding preventing visa farming, an easier solution (in my opinion) is to improve the flexibility for an H1B worker; allow them to work for 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 employee, H1B harvesting wouldn't be worth it.
3/4 of all H1Bs are going to Indians. Having some level of diversity from other countries doesn’t sound like a bad idea. On top of it, most of those H1bs are from Indian body shops gaming the system which is how they get so many H1Bs in the first place. So I’m okay with these changes.
No. H1B is a skills based visa and not diversity/family based. The only thing that should matter are the skills and not the country they come from. Steps should absolutely be taken to ensure the system can't be gamed and that only well qualified applicants get selected.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ve never understood why H1-B applications weren’t sorted by compensation (salary): higher salaries go first. Seems like a trivial way to prevent visa farming.
Somehow the government doesn't want to fund landowners in California. You'd bet that take-home pay for the same work after taxes and rent is higher in Dallas than in San Jose. I think Facebook is demonstrating this like now.
It's not, though. Median rent in Mountain View (significantly pricier than San Jose) is now $2390/month [1]. L4 total comp at Google, or E4 salaries at Facebook, is about $260K/year [2]. Average rent for a 1BR in Dallas is $1250/month [3]. Average total comp for a software engineer in Dallas is $110K/year. [4]
After taxes and rent, the Facebook/Google L4 is making $260K * (1 - 0.37 [5]) - 2390 * 12 = $135920/year. The Dallas SWE is making $110K * (1 - 0.16 [6]) - 1250 * 12 = $68939/year. Even with the $4K/month rents from 2019, the Facebook engineer is still putting away $116K/year, more than the total gross of the Dallas engineer.
People tend to underestimate the effect of the top-line on finances and savings. Eric Schmidt had a saying: "More revenue solves all known problems". It applies as much to households as to giant companies.
[1] https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/mountain-view-ca
[3] https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/dallas-tx
[4] https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries/Dal...
[5] https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#vyY8q...
[6] https://smartasset.com/taxes/texas-tax-calculator#s0LEbwxtAs
You can take all kinds of policy positions on a campaign, but any president cannot really do much to the H1B system without passing laws. Passing a new immigration bill is very hard since there are so many competing interests benefiting from the status quo and there is very little to gain electorally. The current administration tried using executive action and regulatory approaches to fulfil their agenda and both kee…
That’s not accurate. The original law in the 1960s was designed to be very different, and one of the basic bargains was that it wouldn’t increase net immigration. That ended up being false because Presidents ended up using executive action and regulations to depart from the original design. For example, Clinton narrowing the public charge exclusion to refer to only cash welfare. Indeed, the H1-B system was never intended to be a vehicle for permanent immigration. That was created by administrative fiat too. Trump’s administrative changes were to make the system more consistent with what the law actually says.
“I am hearing from many constituents, who have been waiting over ten years, for a green card“ - Constituent - “ any of the voters who elect a person to represent them.” H1B are not US citizens, and politicians considering them their “constituents” are misrepresenting their true constituents interests.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Somehow the government doesn't want to fund landowners in California. You'd bet that take-home pay for the same work after taxes and rent is higher in Dallas than in San Jose. I think Facebook is demonstrating this like now.
> You'd bet that take-home pay for the same work after taxes and rent is higher in Dallas than in San Jose. I think Facebook is demonstrating this like now. It's not, though. Median rent in Mountain View (significantly pricier than San Jose) is now $2390/month [1]. L4 total comp at Google, or E4 salaries at Facebook, is about $260K/year [2]. Average rent for a 1BR in Dallas is $1250/month [3]. Average total comp for…
Besides clear political positions, there are differences in diversity, including a woman on the ticket.
Cast your vote!
Auction, auction, auction - but not with fees, with salaries. Set a cap on number of entrants, and then "auction" the slots. Adjust the cap on entrants annually. No showing of specific market need required, or educational background of the applicant. Just criminal background and health checks on the applicant. The bid is the (gross) pay of the role with a minimum commit of 36 months. Winning bids are paid to the empl…
I really like this plan. Perhaps the salary could go into escrow up front, to make the hook set harder on employers?
Auction, auction, auction - but not with fees, with salaries. Set a cap on number of entrants, and then "auction" the slots. Adjust the cap on entrants annually. No showing of specific market need required, or educational background of the applicant. Just criminal background and health checks on the applicant. The bid is the (gross) pay of the role with a minimum commit of 36 months. Winning bids are paid to the empl…
- Non tech professions also hire people on H1Bs and don't pay as well as FAANG-likes do.
- Wages are generally lower in non bay area locations. Employers in low COL areas might lose out to those in high COL areas.
> Employees who voluntarily quit or are terminated are free to take any other job paying at least what the sponsor's job paid, provided they do so within 3 months.
3 months is generally not enough time to find a new job, finish immigration transfer formalities. This small duration to find a new job also leads to a lot of scams to maintain status.