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Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

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Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#121

Post by poulsbohemian »

Flemlord wrote: post #78

Coincidentally I just posted an Ask HN question asking how small companies facilitated H1B workers. I run a small company and don't have time to figure the process out. Was wondering how others did it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9096684

When I was at a small company about 4 years ago that was hiring two H1Bs (one from Romania, the other from Russia), a local lawyer experienced in the process was hired for a few thousand dollars. All we had to do was answer the questions from the lawyer, pay the fee, and magically the two guys got on airplanes and appeared.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#122

Post by ild »

peter303 wrote: post #109

I wonder if you can distinguish between direct hires and contracted hires through "body shops". The latter have reputationfor taking a big cut off the top. or hiring 'L'-class business visas, etc.

Yes, confirm - worked with Indian body shop; half of their were L1.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#123

Post by Jugurtha »

It would be better to fix the axis so that we get the info by the position of the hisogram.

Example: When you're at "Engineer", and then you click "Programmer", the histogram moves to the bottom, giving the illusion they're paid more, when in fact the labels on the axis also changed.

The same axis for everyone to really bring the difference home.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#124

Post by varunjuice »

Has anyone tried to determine if the prevalence of H1B visas results in a downward pressure on salaries in the tech sector? In theory, it shouldn't because H1B visas are supposed to be filled when you can't find a citizen or a resident, but I wonder.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#125

Post by ild »

pslam wrote: post #47
felixgallo wrote: post #5

I would like to see the 'value' taken from the point of view of the employer; how much is an H1B visa worth in terms of cost savings over a local employee?

It is very expensive to hire an H1-B compared to a US resident. The only way for it to be cheaper would involve fraud: paying a worker less than prevailing wage, which would require cooking your books, lying to US Immigration, and getting into a lot of trouble. (As is the case for a few big out-sourcing companies recently) Filing fees are high ($5k+ over 6 years), as is the cost in lawyers (probably similar), auditin…

H1B is a cost saver because it makes abusing workforce much easier.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#126

Post by kansface »

varunjuice wrote: post #124

Has anyone tried to determine if the prevalence of H1B visas results in a downward pressure on salaries in the tech sector? In theory, it shouldn't because H1B visas are supposed to be filled when you can't find a citizen or a resident, but I wonder.

More supply typically means lower prices.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#129

Post by tjl »

djb_hackernews wrote: post #12

This gets to the rub of prevailing wage. You are hiring a developer, do you call her an engineer where the prevailing wage is 87k or do you call her a programmer where the prevailing wage is 61k? This type of fraud is difficult to prove and there probably isn't even anyone responsible in the government to verify or investigate issues. EDIT: forgot to mention that the prevailing wage can be determined by salary survey…

In Canada, you wouldn't be allowed to call them an engineer if they didn't have professional certification as an engineer. It's against the law. People have been taken to court over it.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#130

Post by tjl »

toephu2 wrote: post #105
Dirlewanger wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Problem with that is that, at least compared to actual engineers who need to take the FE exam to be called one, it's a complete misnomer and to be frank, a little embarrassing. Most CS/SE programs share no classes with engineering programs except maybe calc 1/2 and one or two others. It just feels wrong referring to myself as a software engineer because a. there's no formal definition of one and b. it's unfair to tho…

But I was a CS major and had to slog through diff. EQs, calc, physics, linear algebera, etc..

In Canada, it would be against the law for a CS major to call oneself an "engineer". At the University of Waterloo, there's actually a Software Engineering program that's joint between the CS and Electrical & Computer Engineering departments. It's been licensed by the accreditation board for engineering programs.
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