101–110 of 488 posts
Daydream: American companies are allowed to replace well-paid American workers with ill-treated, ill-paid H1B workers all they want...with the small caveat that the highest replacement rates and worst ill-treat/-pay rates must occur the C suite.
It is not uncommon that C suites don't get paid that much money: the big money that they make rather comes from bonuses.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
“Modern slavery” is definitely an exaggeration but many are also not quite so free to quit. The H1B is a “dual intent” visa, meaning you can apply for permanent residency while you have it. But you must maintain your H1B the entire time, which can be a decade or more for folks from places like India. You can transfer an H1B but it’s not easy and if you quit your job you must line another one up in 60 days or say good…
As long as they’re able to switch job and can leave the states (if they want to) I don’t think that the “slavery” word applies at all. And I’m saying this because there are places like Dubai where you very often get your passport taken on arrival, can’t leave the state and can’t really go work somewhere else. There is a lot more to say, but that qualifies as “modern slavery”.
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
Also, I'd call into question the credibility of this article. Google pays H1Bs the same as Americans as far as I know. What Google is doing is hiring a large number of engineers in India. These people I assume are paid much less than American engineers.
Me and many other people commented here when the whole thing started that layoffs in a time of record profits and cashflows were basically a strategy to keep salaries low. At this point I honestly don't know how innocent one has to be to think that everything is an organic coincidence and not an orchestrated move. Companies colluding to make the life of workers worse and boost their profits, that has never happened b…
Keep salaries low? This is one of the boomiest industries, with truly insane salaries, with years of employee-favorable conditions. Beyond that, we’re in for years of macroeconomic reckoning for unresolved asset bubbles in the 2000s and horrendously bad COVID policy. Laying off makes sense. Sometimes you hire to backfill roles or for strategic teams. Sometimes an H1b is the correct hire.
How many software developers can, in a reasonable timeframe, buy a house in the place they live and support alone a family of four people? Then the truly insane salaries you are talking about are not really that insane.
>Laying off makes sense. Sometimes you hire to backfill roles or for strategic teams. Sometimes an H1b is the correct hire.
Developers are seen by companies as over expensive peons and they have been maneuvering to turn the whole field in an low cost industry. I hope you are younger than 30 to still hold such a naïf worldview.
I mean, no kidding. Half the people I work with are H-1B. The program takes jobs away from Americans and should be illegal. I want to work with people from my town, not people from halfway across the world.
> I want to work with people from my town Nobody forces you to work with people from across the world, quit your job and find one that only hires people from your town
As it is, the H1B system only benefits H1Bs in a limited manner at the cost of American citizens. All so that rich investors can make more money.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here's how it works in practice: You create a job posting that's buried on your careers page and has so many very specific requirements for an underleveled role (because it's custom-made for the H1B person you want to hire) that no local worker can possibly meet them all. Then you half-heartedly phone screen a few people to check the box before throwing up your hands and saying, "We tried and weren't able to find any…
Because both political parties have donors that benefit from H1Bs and it's beyond just tech companies. Even the angry orange man has his hotels applying for H1B visas. Fucking hotels.
I’m not familiar with the US visa rules, but aren’t companies supposed to demonstrate that they can’t source talent domestically before bringing people in on visas? This seems odd and damaging to the US economy. And I say this as a non-US person
I mean, no kidding. Half the people I work with are H-1B. The program takes jobs away from Americans and should be illegal. I want to work with people from my town, not people from halfway across the world.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
You don't understand what slavery is. Slaves don't get paid and it isn't voluntary. H1B are paid and is entirely voluntary. The reason foreigners accept and compete for the positions is because the pay is better than the positions they can get locally. Calling that slavery is ignorant and an insult to anyone alive or historically who has suffered actual slave labor.
Technically, that varies. Slavery is as old as humanity itself and it exists in different forms. It's not even unheard of for a slave to be wealthier than his master, although, of course, this is more of an exception. What I'm trying to say is if someone isn't picking up cotton in the american south, it doesn't mean they cannot be enslaved and don't need help
>low-paid The minimum annual salary for an H1B worker is $60,000. That is higher than what tech workers get paid in most of Europe.
Comparing salaries for tech workers in the EU vs H1B in the US does not make a lot of sense. Cost of living, taxation, rents, electricity/gas bills and welfare are completely different.
Rent in Silicon Valley and NYC are definitely a lot higher than anywhere in Europe but those are not the only places with tech jobs.