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

#161

Post by Mizoguchi » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 1:23 PM UTC

As a once H1B holder I can confirm this is actually a common practice not only a FAANGs but pretty much any large and medium size tech corporation in America.

The visa is not the actual problem but the green card promise and process.

It took me 6 years to be "free" and that's considered pretty fast compared to my Indian colleagues many who are still waiting more than a decade later.

One of the teams I work with today is about 90% Indian, most from great schools like CMU, many overqualified for the job they do, all trapped in the green card promise making 1/3 of what they could be making somewhere else.

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

#162

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 1:23 PM UTC

fiforpg wrote: post #36

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

Why "not supposed" to say out loud? Sounds simply as a problem of the only X on a team of Ys. Cultural (and other) differences can be hard, it is just a fact of life. Think of it as being in the shoes of a lonely non-American in the country of Americans, if that is any consolation.

[deleted]

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

#163

Post by ecf » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 1:23 PM UTC

cactusfrog wrote: post #155

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’ve been the only US citizen on a team and now I am on a team with exclusively white, remote employees. I’ve watched my current team build the worst systems I’ve ever seen while constantly congregating themselves.

The person you’re replying to didn’t mention performance at all, so I’m not sure what you’re trying to imply.

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

#164

Post by ianhawes » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 1:23 PM UTC

mdorazio wrote: post #35

ftyers wrote: post #3

For H1B don't they have to show that they are paying at least market rate? And isn't it a factor in awarding the visa?

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…

There are actually even more arcane requirements like placing a job ad in a Sunday newspaper with a certain distribution. The ads have bizarre keywords that make it borderline impossible to determine the real job. Those regulations are controlled by the DOL.

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

#165

Post by dudul » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 1:24 PM UTC

Zetice wrote: post #151

booleandilemma wrote: post #18

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.

Why are Americans more deserving of jobs then other people?

Because this is in America.

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

#166

Post by enlightenedfool » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 1:24 PM UTC

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,…

Things have changed in India. In these top companies, engineers get as much as 1/3rd of the pay here. That’s relatively much better given the cost of living in India.

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

#167

Post by dotnet00 » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 1:24 PM UTC

throwaway290 wrote: post #63

intelVISA wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

This is such a tone deaf rosy eyed out of touch with reality comment. Modern slavery exists. See things like Uyghur camps, people sold to work until death on Thai boats or exit visas in Saudi Arabia. Having a choice to work for money or (gasp) return home is not even remotely the same? To put them under the same label is to discount the actually bad stuff.

"Return home" is awfully convenient phrasing to gloss over the fact that to many of the people caught in this system, the US IS their home in practical terms and "returning home" to their country of origin is more like uprooting your entire life within a few weeks and restarting it in a foreign land.

Especially with Chinese and Indian H1Bs, the wait for permanent residency can be so long that they may have spent over a decade in the US with no meaningful connection to their country of origin, with all their friends and immediate family here.

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

#168

Post by ajmurmann » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 1:24 PM UTC

booleandilemma wrote: post #18

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, not people from halfway across the world.

And I want to work with the brightest people from all over the world. I guess we are at an impasse and are best off leaving subjective preferences out...

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

#169

Post by o1y32 » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 1:24 PM UTC

booleandilemma wrote: post #18

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.

If you are looking for someone to blame for you not getting your dream job, blame it on employers instead of the government. Companies like Verizon and Wells Fargo almost never hire anyone on a visa. Go work for those companies. Oh wait, they do hire foreigners with a green card. Are you going to find a company that only hires US-born citizens like the requirement for the US President?

Many countries offer work visas (for many good reasons), although they are often used in unintended ways. It is very much a stretch to say these programs shouldn't exist at all because they "take away" jobs.

Also, if half of the people you work with are on H1B, very likely you are not in a midwest "town" with 3,000 population, but rather a decent metropolitan area with a large immigration population, and the company you work is of decent size. I wouldn't be surprised if even half of the Americans in your company relocated from a different "town".

Finally, I like working with people that are productive and easy to communicate, instead of looking at which country they come from or their visa status. If anything that's my boss's concern.

Therefore, if you want to actually see any change, maybe (1) become the CEO of your company, fire all H1B and only hire US citizens (2) join a different company (3) start your own company, or at least (4) call your senator and advocate for anti-immigration bills, or sue USCIS, instead of posting these useless and borderline racist comments on HN.

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

#170

Post by mrits » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 1:24 PM UTC

maccard wrote: post #131

batch12 wrote: post #28

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.

If you send me your resume, I can write a job description that only matches you in 15 minutes.

14 minute coffee break with 1 minute ChatGPT?