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

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

#111

Post by Tade0 »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #52
intelVISA wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

It's only exploitation if those workers have to live in the US. Something like 50kUSD/y is laughable to an american but is actually a ridiculous amount of money for a lot of people due to exchange rates. More than worth it so long as they can work remotely without paying US cost of living.

> Something like 50kUSD/y is laughable to an american but is actually a ridiculous amount of money for a lot of people due to exchange rates.

For anyone on the globe able to go through a Google job interview that's also not going to be really that much.

There was a shift in salaries during the pandemic when more companies opened to hiring remote workers.

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

#112

Post by jakderrida »

afavour wrote: post #30
the_svd_doctor wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

To be honest, I'm actually in favor of them not needlessly struggling to communicate with each other in broken English. I was once in an Econ class with a Chinese professor that spoke mandarin natively. As did a slim majority of the class. I recall him trying to explain something to the other mandarin-speakers and struggling before squeezing in like a 4 second mandarin quip and the response was a wave of "eureka!" across the other ones. Like he just somehow squeezed the past 40 minutes into 4 seconds and they all finally understood it completely. Astonishingly, really.

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

#113

Post by oceanplexian »

delfinom wrote: post #79
mdorazio wrote: post #35

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.

Trump actually tried to end H1B, and suspended the H1B program with an executive order. One of his policy decisions I support. Actually the entire platform was centered around immigration.

As soon as it happened though, there were news stories left and right about how "Immigration is our strength" and "The US is a country founded by immigrants". All these sob stories about why we need cheap, exploitable labor to undercut American workers.

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

#114

Post by [deleted] »

amykhar wrote: post #76
intelVISA wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I believe companies should be forced to pay H1B visa employees the top rate that they have for that job position (actual top rate paid to citizens and green card holders). If the theory is that they're desperate for these skills because people here don't have them, then companies should be more than willing to pay a premium to get those people they so desperately need.

[deleted]

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

#115

Post by gniv »

There's nothing really new in this article. These companies hire H1B's all the time. There is no evidence that they are low paid. I was an H1B at [FAANG] and I had a bigger salary and more stock options than most of my teammates (not sure why, but I think I was more aggressive in asking for raises). I also received help to get my green card quickly.

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

#116

Post by ajmurmann »

afavour wrote: post #56
chii wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> H1B at big tech is modern slavery that's putting it too far - they are free to leave or quit as they wish. Unlike the true modern slavery of which is migrant workers (like described here https://www.antislavery.org/world-cup-2022-the-reality-for-m... ), where their passports are confiscated, etc. H1B is exploiting the rules for cheap labour. It does benefit the H1B holder - since they would otherwise not have signe…

“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…

This is what creates more downward pressure on everyone's comp than just getting foreign workers. It artificially creates a group of workers for whom it's significantly harder and more risky to change jobs or simply quit when they are unsatisfied. I think everyone in tech would be better off if you wouldn't lose the H1B quickly if unemployed and if you wouldn't need to rely on an employer doing extra work to sponsor you. Make it two years instead of two months and make it so that the visa holder just can mail in proof of a paycheck. There is no real downside to this change for anybody in US society.

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

#117

Post by totetsu »

burnerburnson wrote: post #103
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

I'm a manager of a team that's mostly H1Bs at Google. It's mostly fine but a few of them just refuse improve their English, and it's frustrating spending hours every day just being an English teacher to an engineer who writes at a 5th grade level. The problem with hiring too many H1Bs is they speak to each other in Chinese and thus take forever to become proficient at communicating with the rest of the company. Also,…

As someone with some exposure to Chinese characters as a Japanese speaker, I’ve had the please to casually glance a WeChat group and realize some of the back channel Chinese from my teammates was joking about trying to get me fired.

(Edit: my also Chinese manager dealt with it very well and that person left the company after some time)

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

#118

Post by chii »

maccard wrote: post #102
znpy wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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”.

You're not really free to leave if you have to leave the country if you don't have a job lined up immediately.

> if you have to leave the country

i mean, this is meant to be a jobs visa. The fact that if you quit said job, you no longer have a reason to be given to stay, seems pretty normal. You are free to leave, it doesn't mean leaving is consequence free.

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

#120

Post by jofi1 »

intelVISA wrote: post #24
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]

Are H1Bs hired at big tech paid that low anywhere? From what I saw, they may be given the bottom of the job level band, but it's still usually quite high.

At the same time, it was obvious that having h1b engineers gave the managers a lot more power to overwork them and prevented them from speaking out.

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