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Microsoft memo advises H1B employees to return immediately if currently abroad

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Re: Microsoft memo advises H1B employees to return immediately if currently abroad

#121

Post by rs186 »

SoftTalker wrote: post #98
rs186 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The world in 1990 is no longer the world now. As someone who works with colleagues from India (like, physically in India), I don't see any reason the company keeps me over some other random guy in India, to be honest.

A big change from then to now for remote collaboration is better connectivity in general, and technology such as Zoom and Teams. But how do you handle the time zone difference? That has always been the issue I've seen with any kind of real-time collaboration with contracrors or employees in India. If it's work that doesn't involve that, then what is the big difference now? Github? Slack?

If companies like airbnb allow you to work from anywhere in the world, it means timezone is not a problem. It definitely needs some investment though.

> what is the big difference now?

What is the difference between pre-2020 full-time in-office, vs 3 day or even fully remote? Nothing, in my opinion (CEOs don't agree though). If people are productive with 3 days in office, that could have been the norm before 2020.

All you need is someone actually making it happen.

Re: Microsoft memo advises H1B employees to return immediately if currently abroad

#122

Post by 8note »

slg wrote: post #97
yibg wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That 26% don’t see this as overreach, they see it as putting the corrupt radical left | greedy corporations | immigrants in their place.

The rate the Trump administration is losing plausible deniability has been accelerating over recent months/weeks/days. The MAGA diehards flying Trump flags aren't going to change their ways because they are true believers in "putting the corrupt radical left | greedy corporations | immigrants in their place". But what about all the techno-libertarians that populate HN? Can you genuinely say this type of loophole that…

from the technolibertarian side its great - many of the web2.0 companies were about breaking the law in some way(eg. uber, airbnb) and getting away with it. now there's a very explicit way to do so. there's also lots of change happening, so theres plenty of opportunity to make a quick buck and develop oligarchs similar to russia

Re: Microsoft memo advises H1B employees to return immediately if currently abroad

#123

Post by 8note »

dragonwriter wrote: post #60
mapontosevenths wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Their arbitrary nature is designed to consolidate executive branch authority that can be welded as a weapon against corporations that might consider supporting his opposition in the future. It's a classic fascist ploy, and is further proof that executive orders should be banned. In America we do not have kings who rule by decree, or at least we should not..

Banning executive orders is nonsense; you can’t have an executive branch with a head and prohibit the head from giving direction to the rest of the executive branch. Executive orders that violate, or direct the violation of, existing law are illegal (or, at least, without legal effect) to the extent they do that, but whether or not a particular order meets that description is frequently a matter of dispute, which can…

i for one dont think that congress can delegate something like how big a fee can be for the executive to decide on its own.

Re: Microsoft memo advises H1B employees to return immediately if currently abroad

#124

Post by sarchertech »

yibg wrote: post #117
sarchertech wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure everything Trump does is insane, but all I've been hearing is how "H-1Bs are good actually".

Having skilled immigrants is good for the country. H1B right now is the primary way this happens. Crippling H1B goes against that.

Sure that can be your stance. But that's not we're talking about. I'm talking about people on the left who have historically been anti H-1B, but who have moved over to the pro H-1B camp because Trump acted against the program.

To that point though, there were ~40k O visas issued last year. And presumably that number would have been much higher if the H-1Bs were harder to get.

And unlikely H-1B the O visas actually have requirements that the person does have above average skills.

Re: Microsoft memo advises H1B employees to return immediately if currently abroad

#125

Post by rs186 »

sarchertech wrote: post #99
rs186 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Extra $100k might "tip the scale"? If you are the employer, are you going to shell out 50% more for no good reason? Amazon has over 10k H1B workers. Think about how much money it means.

>Amazon has over 10k H1B workers. Think about how much money it means. Something like 0.3% of their yearly profit. They're already paying probably somewhere near $200k a year more. Clearly it's not for no good reason. Clearly there is some advantage to employing them here if they are already willing to pay $200k more than they have to. An extra $100k doesn't erase whatever that value is. The question is, is employing…

Care to show your math?

Re: Microsoft memo advises H1B employees to return immediately if currently abroad

#126

Post by [deleted] »

silverquiet wrote: post #68
vkou wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's really wild is anyone seeing that the solution to the multitude of real and self-inflicted problems in this country is... A shakedown of and a head tax on immigrants. I wonder what's next. Maybe stealing their 401Ks and their SS contributions?

Replace "immigrant" with "Jew" and you have some idea of the human failings on display here.

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft memo advises H1B employees to return immediately if currently abroad

#128

Post by rendx »

ed wrote: post #57

The fee applies only to new applicants, per https://www.axios.com/2025/09/20/trump-h-1b-immigration-visa...

"Section 1. Restriction on Entry. (a) Pursuant to sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), the entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000 — subject to the exceptions set forth in subsection (c) of this section."

See https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/rest...

Nothing in there says it only applies to new applicants.

Re: Microsoft memo advises H1B employees to return immediately if currently abroad

#129

Post by rendx »

llm_nerd wrote: post #74
yibg wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has the administration officially confirmed this applies to new applicants only? All the reporting I’ve seen on this are from unnamed officials.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/world/us-official-clarifies-100... The specific quote can be found in a number of media sources- "Those who are visiting or leaving the country, or visiting India, they don't need to rush back before Sunday or pay the $100,000 fee. $100,000 is only for new and not current existing holders" EDIT: Weirdly the parent edited in the "unnamed official" bit after I made my comment, then replied…

> It's obvious policy, given how vague and uncertain many details of this are.

" Section 1. Restriction on Entry. (a) Pursuant to sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), the entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000 — subject to the exceptions set forth in subsection (c) of this section."

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/rest...

Personally, I do not see anything vague and uncertain about that. I agree that how Trump has been handling things anything and everything is vague and uncertain. But the language of the actual executive order, which in any sane jurisdiction would be the only thing relevant, is pretty clear. Note how it says "restriction on entry", and zero about new applicants.

Re: Microsoft memo advises H1B employees to return immediately if currently abroad

#130

Post by analognoise »

slg wrote: post #97
yibg wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That 26% don’t see this as overreach, they see it as putting the corrupt radical left | greedy corporations | immigrants in their place.

The rate the Trump administration is losing plausible deniability has been accelerating over recent months/weeks/days. The MAGA diehards flying Trump flags aren't going to change their ways because they are true believers in "putting the corrupt radical left | greedy corporations | immigrants in their place". But what about all the techno-libertarians that populate HN? Can you genuinely say this type of loophole that…

The techno-libertarians I’ve interacted with were always painfully naive, with a simplistic worldview (that they thought was extremely learn’ed - mistaking their technical skill for broad intellect that understood politics to be “simple”).

If they haven’t grown up thus far, I doubt yet another logical inconsistency will puncture their shallow and hermetic understanding.

Or as I read it somewhere, “We’ve created a group of technical people who can solve any technical problem but can’t explain why Nazism is bad.”

The only thing that might pierce that veil is this: they believed they were not workers, but more like a priestly class, “self made” but immune to the travails of “everyone else”. The massive spike in layoffs, the economic slump, our increased taxes (via tariff), the rights erosions - might get them to recognize their mistake in understanding, but only if it strikes them personally (this gets back to the naïveté mentioned above).

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