Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs • Hacker News Board

Re: Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs

#21

Post by hankchinaski » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 12:31 PM UTC

malermeister wrote: post #7

hankchinaski wrote: post #4

High flying tech jobs bonanza is over. Check back in a couple of years

Best move right now is to go into freelance/consulting and wait for big tech to recover. Still plenty of money to be made that way.

Been doing this for the past 6-7 years. Hands down better than riding the big tech hype train.

Re: Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs

#22

Post by the_svd_doctor » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 12:31 PM UTC

greatpostman wrote: post #13

Generally not supposed to say this out loud, but being the only American on an all H1B team at these companies can be absolutely brutal. Very alienating, always missing out on back channel communications, no sympathy for missteps

Is that really related to h1b or other (cultural?) differences?

Re: Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs

#23

Post by mdorazio » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 12:31 PM UTC

jncfhnb wrote: post #6

Most of these cuts haven’t targeted tech talent, so this isn’t really contradictory in any way.

What headlines have you been reading that make you think the many thousands of workers cut were all not tech talent?

Re: Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs

#24

Post by intelVISA » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 12:32 PM UTC

greatpostman wrote: post #13

Generally not supposed to say this out loud, but being the only American on an all H1B team at these companies can be absolutely brutal. Very alienating, always missing out on back channel communications, no sympathy for missteps

[flagged]

Re: Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs

#25

Post by pavlov » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 12:32 PM UTC

rubyfan wrote: post #16

greatpostman wrote: post #13

Generally not supposed to say this out loud, but being the only American on an all H1B team at these companies can be absolutely brutal. Very alienating, always missing out on back channel communications, no sympathy for missteps

Probably happens the other way too.

Yes, the grandparent comment also describes the common immigrant experience on a team where the others are native speakers of the work language. It’s not intentional prejudice, but just the wrong kind of accent can leave you excluded because the others start to feel that verbal communication is “harder” with you around.

Re: Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs

#26

Post by everdrive » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 12:32 PM UTC

zffr wrote: post #9

malermeister wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best move right now is to go into freelance/consulting and wait for big tech to recover. Still plenty of money to be made that way.

Can you make FAANG level money doing consulting?

Yes, and what you'll find is that the output of your work product will become magically disconnected from your pay. Management will love your ideas because they came from a consultant. Ideas which come from within the business cannot be trusted, but consultants are expensive, and therefore they are both intelligent and also correct.

Re: Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs

#27

Post by iteria » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 12:32 PM UTC

zffr wrote: post #9

malermeister wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best move right now is to go into freelance/consulting and wait for big tech to recover. Still plenty of money to be made that way.

Can you make FAANG level money doing consulting?

Absolutely. It's just about getting into a firm that isn't doing staff augmentation and is building out things for companies. While you will be paid well, it's worth noting that the code will be shit. Worse than code sometimes. That's why the company is outsourcing. I once spent six months just cataloging all the repositories and dependencies a company had. They needed to move to the cloud but they literally had no idea what code they had. Everything worked and so they just never touched it.

Re: Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs

#28

Post by batch12 » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 12:32 PM UTC

I believe for H1B they have to post the jobs and demonstrate no qualified American could be found. I've seen companies do this quickly and quietly to satisfy the requirement. I wonder if there a way to identify these opportunities and take advantage of the low applicant pool.

Re: Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs

#29

Post by candiodari » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 12:34 PM UTC

greatpostman wrote: post #13

Generally not supposed to say this out loud, but being the only American on an all H1B team at these companies can be absolutely brutal. Very alienating, always missing out on back channel communications, no sympathy for missteps

Oh man, but you're not missing out, you're alienating, you're not excluded from back channels ... you're being targeted for being expensive.

Re: Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs

#30

Post by afavour » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 12:35 PM UTC

the_svd_doctor wrote: post #22

greatpostman wrote: post #13

Generally not supposed to say this out loud, but being the only American on an all H1B team at these companies can be absolutely brutal. Very alienating, always missing out on back channel communications, no sympathy for missteps

Is that really related to h1b or other (cultural?) differences?

It’s not as if it’s directly attributable to an H1B but if a group has eight Indian people on it chances are they’ll converse in their native language from time to time and it’s quite possible they’ll have a group chat and a close relationship (given their shared similar circumstances). Not difficult to see how an outsider might feel excluded.

That said, that same group often faces exclusion in the wider company (and coming together is often in reaction to that), so it’s kind of miserable for everyone.