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Free the H-1Bs, Free the Economy

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Re: Free the H-1Bs, Free the Economy

#11

Post by vaksel »

rantfoil wrote: post #9
vaksel wrote: post #4

yeah that's what we need, more H1Bs...after all its not like we have a lot of unemployed. The job growth rate has dropped significantly, why should we increase our population when we don't have the jobs to support them? these were posted on TC: 1950’s Population Growth = 11,516,000 Employment Growth = 7,215,000 (62.65%) 1960’s Population Growth = 19,449,000 Employment Growth = 13,862,000 (71.27%) 1970’s Population Gr…

There's two issues here -- one is that there's a brain drain in the United States. The best and the brightest are leaving. They can't stay, because we won't let them. The fix is letting them, by reforming H1B policies. Second is H1B abuse by large corporations. This is a legit problem -- some IT firms bring in people they shouldn't (sometimes thousands at a time), and this takes up H1B's from talented people who shou…

i don't buy the brain drain issue, sure there are probably some geniuses in the millions of H1B people, but majority are not that much better than the average American worker. So out of those few geniuses, what tiny percentage leaves?

They aren't leaving for the sake of leaving, they are leaving to exploit the opportunities in their home countries

Re: Free the H-1Bs, Free the Economy

#13

Post by kiba »

fnid wrote: post #2

This is a very biased article. The author neglects to mention that a very large portion of income generated by foreign born workers is sent home by those workers. The money doesn't stay in America to benefit the American economy. It also doesn't benefit the case to call those opposed to more immigration Xenophobes . They aren't xenophobes, they are rationally aware of the situation. Also, what he says is not true acc…

All economies depend on trade and division of labors to be prosperous. So money going back to India and other countries may help increase global trade.

Re: Free the H-1Bs, Free the Economy

#14

Post by sachinag »

This is bullshit. Here's actual data: http://www.businessweek.com/table/08/0305_h1b.htm More (I don't know the source, but seems correct): http://www.myvisajobs.com/Top_Visa_Sponsors.aspx

Lookit, a lot of the H1-B slots are being taken up by consulting firms. We don't have a shortage of H1-Bs; we just allocate them poorly. That's what we need to fix.

As to the (what I consider a minor) founding issue, that's pretty simple: find an American co-founder. Form a company, apply for a second H1-B, and you can work for the NewCo from the minute you file (if you already have an existing one). Work on the side, make something people want, then transfer over the main H1-B once the NewCo has revenue/investment. Hell, I'm happy to sign on as a co-founder for as many companies as I can until INS stops me.

Re: Free the H-1Bs, Free the Economy

#16

Post by rantfoil »

jyothi wrote: post #5

Reminds me of PGs "Founders Visa" article - http://www.paulgraham.com/foundervisa.html It is a win-win for America and hundreds of entrepreneurs in other countries where the startup ecosystem doesn't exist and ofcourse many would want to build businesses for developed economies than attempt to run something in their home economy which probably can't pay enough. They might go back and build something few yrs down the…

I've seen H1B essentially lock up some of the brightest people I've worked with... for years. Even a decade or so. You have to get sponsored, and you can't leave your corporate home. It's a strange, watered down form of identured servitude.

The fact that H1B's have no mobility also depresses wages and reduces the incentive for corporations to be a great place to work because the switching cost for these workers is much higher. So hiring a lot of H1B's actually do offer corporations an incentive that is more insidious than you might think.

That's the bad form of H1B. Corporations bringing worker drones for cheap. But that's why this specific reform can affect the system for the better.

Re: Free the H-1Bs, Free the Economy

#17

Post by barrkel »

rantfoil wrote: post #16
jyothi wrote: post #5

Reminds me of PGs "Founders Visa" article - http://www.paulgraham.com/foundervisa.html It is a win-win for America and hundreds of entrepreneurs in other countries where the startup ecosystem doesn't exist and ofcourse many would want to build businesses for developed economies than attempt to run something in their home economy which probably can't pay enough. They might go back and build something few yrs down the…

I've seen H1B essentially lock up some of the brightest people I've worked with... for years. Even a decade or so. You have to get sponsored, and you can't leave your corporate home. It's a strange, watered down form of identured servitude. The fact that H1B's have no mobility also depresses wages and reduces the incentive for corporations to be a great place to work because the switching cost for these workers is mu…

And of course the depressed wage / indentured servitude plays into the xenophobic / "dey tuk ur jerbs" crowd as an argument against immigration reform.

Re: Free the H-1Bs, Free the Economy

#18

Post by rantfoil »

vaksel wrote: post #11
rantfoil wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's two issues here -- one is that there's a brain drain in the United States. The best and the brightest are leaving. They can't stay, because we won't let them. The fix is letting them, by reforming H1B policies. Second is H1B abuse by large corporations. This is a legit problem -- some IT firms bring in people they shouldn't (sometimes thousands at a time), and this takes up H1B's from talented people who shou…

i don't buy the brain drain issue, sure there are probably some geniuses in the millions of H1B people, but majority are not that much better than the average American worker. So out of those few geniuses, what tiny percentage leaves? They aren't leaving for the sake of leaving, they are leaving to exploit the opportunities in their home countries

Maybe just anecdotally I know more entrepreneurial immigrants, but I just have not seen that to be the case. n=1, ymmv.

Re: Free the H-1Bs, Free the Economy

#20

Post by auston »

rdtsc wrote: post #3

> Hundreds of thousands of mostly very smart and highly educated workers who could be starting companies are not. Alright, but millions of Americans could be starting companies as well, but are not. In fact, America is _not_ as an entrepreneurial country with lots of little small business owners as we'd like to think. That is the propaganda bullshit we get fed on every election cycle "we got help America's small busi…

> (from the article) I have a suggestion for our President on how to boost economic growth without spending a penny:

Really? What about the additional man power needed to process the "millions" of pending applications?

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