Live data from Hacker News

Trump Is Right: Silicon Valley Using H-1B Visas to Pay Low Wages to Immigrants

huffingtonpost.com

141–150 of 490 posts

Re: Trump Is Right: Silicon Valley Using H-1B Visas to Pay Low Wages to Immigrants

#141
We can discuss the economics of the H-1B visa program at such a time as we have a president who's capable of discussing the economics of the H1B visa program.

Right now, however, we have an administration that's intent on ratcheting up ethnic tensions, and there's 100% probability that they will use the H1B debate as a pretext for casting aspersions at the entire Indian nation, including Indian-descended natural born Americans.

I'd rather keep on earning my H1-B depressed wage rate for my job than risk yet another hit against my country's credibility thanks to president banana's divide and rule strategy.

Re: Trump Is Right: Silicon Valley Using H-1B Visas to Pay Low Wages to Immigrants

#142
post #132

> overestimation of Russia's danger on the US and EU Depends what you mean by “EU”. Western Europe? Sure, Russia maybe isn't a big deal for them. But the Baltic states, which are EU and NATO member states, understandably consider their next-door neighbour a huge threat.

What would a big country benefit from invading its weak neighbor in the 21st century? Putin isn't an angle but he is surely not Europe's or US' enemy like the liberal media is trying hard to push that narrative. Many of the Baltic states are inexplicably pushing the west towards a pointless conflict with Russia. It's just like Georgia in 2008 or maybe even like Poland with Nazi Germany in late 1930s.

> What would a big country benefit from invading its weak neighbor in the 21st century?

You're asking this as if it didn't already happen in Ukraine.

Re: Trump Is Right: Silicon Valley Using H-1B Visas to Pay Low Wages to Immigrants

#143
post #135
post #107

Trump asks the right questions: the danger of globalism, incredibly high global debt, the danger of radical islam, the overestimation of Russia's danger on the US and EU, the questionable usefulness of NATO, the economic manipulation by China, he just has the wrong answers.

The danger of radical Islam?? That one's in the mix just for an extra dose of racist nationalism. They'll stop fighting us once we stop occupying their countries.

Radical islam is the real danger on the west, I come from a middle eastern country and as an ex-muslim I know very well the danger of the islamization that has been going on in western Europe throughout the past 3 decades.

Re: Trump Is Right: Silicon Valley Using H-1B Visas to Pay Low Wages to Immigrants

#144
post #107

Trump asks the right questions: the danger of globalism, incredibly high global debt, the danger of radical islam, the overestimation of Russia's danger on the US and EU, the questionable usefulness of NATO, the economic manipulation by China, he just has the wrong answers.

In general, I agree with your point. However, I don't think we would be having this intense national debate over these important issues if not for Trumps answers. Like it or not, we're finally bringing these issues to the fore front.

Re: Trump Is Right: Silicon Valley Using H-1B Visas to Pay Low Wages to Immigrants

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There have been many studies on this. Conservatives usually use the phrase "at best, the impact is nil" Liberals usually use the phrase "at worst, the impact is nil" Because the study shows there is negligible impact. Every laborer is also a spender. If the person saves, then every laborer is also an investor. If you believe in the mainstream economic theory, more jobs are produced for the ones that are "taken." You…

> Because the study shows there is negligible impact. Every laborer is also a spender. If the person saves, then every laborer is also an investor. See the sweatshops, guess they are just "another spender": http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103798/Revealed-Ins...

I said immigration may not cost jobs.

And you responded with poverty is bad.

If that was a response to what I said, I don't see how.

Re: Trump Is Right: Silicon Valley Using H-1B Visas to Pay Low Wages to Immigrants

#146

I'll just suggest that it's probably a great time for tech companies to open a Bangalore or Gurgaon office. Bangalore in particular is a good choice - the people are smart, the infrastructure is good, and it's a very pleasant place to visit. Perfect weather all year and the best breakfast in India. Also a very strong tech culture; second in the world to SF, in my view, and without many of the social pathologies [1] t…

I respectfully disagree about Bangalore / Gurgaon office. The time difference between west coast and Bangalore is 13.5hrs now (or 12.5hrs for ~8 months). That makes it very hard to have even meetings, let alone meaningful collaboration. Even 7am in SF means its 8:30pm in Bangalore (or 7:30am in Bangalore means its 6pm in SF). With east coast, time difference is still 9.5hrs vs 10.5 hrs - only slightly better.

Source: first hand experience working with Indian colleagues while in SF; working with US colleagues while in India; observing hundreds of colleagues over the years, vast majority of whom arrive at work ~8:30-9:30 and leave ~5:30-6:30; frustrations of those having to attend late night / early morning meetings and how that affects personal lives.

Re: Trump Is Right: Silicon Valley Using H-1B Visas to Pay Low Wages to Immigrants

#148
post #69
post #42

Could H-1B be more effective? Yes. It could definitely be more fair to the visa holder and do a better job of attracting and retaining the most skilled workers. But I also think it's totally wrong to say we don't have a technology labor shortage. The best evidence of this are the salary numbers for people with math and science degrees. It's not because physics and math suddenly got more valuable. It's because tech is…

>But I also think it's totally wrong to say we don't have a technology labor shortage. The best evidence of this are the salary numbers for people with math and science degrees. It's not because physics and math suddenly got more valuable. It's because tech is so starved for labor it's hiring people from different disciplines to do the job and it's actually brought the average salaries in line with CS and engineering…

http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/majors-that-pa...

#11 Physics & Mathematics $56,200 starting, $111,000 mid-career

Compare that to Computer Science

# 5 Computer Science (CS) & Engineering, starting $71,200, mid-career $116,000

Also, I work with and have interviewed many people with physics and math degrees. Granted, there's some sampling bias going on there. But the ones I know didn't really have prospects actually using their degrees in their respective fields unless they got a phd and went into academia. So they all went into tech one way or another.

Re: Trump Is Right: Silicon Valley Using H-1B Visas to Pay Low Wages to Immigrants

#149
post #69
post #42

Could H-1B be more effective? Yes. It could definitely be more fair to the visa holder and do a better job of attracting and retaining the most skilled workers. But I also think it's totally wrong to say we don't have a technology labor shortage. The best evidence of this are the salary numbers for people with math and science degrees. It's not because physics and math suddenly got more valuable. It's because tech is…

>But I also think it's totally wrong to say we don't have a technology labor shortage. The best evidence of this are the salary numbers for people with math and science degrees. It's not because physics and math suddenly got more valuable. It's because tech is so starved for labor it's hiring people from different disciplines to do the job and it's actually brought the average salaries in line with CS and engineering…

[deleted]

Re: Trump Is Right: Silicon Valley Using H-1B Visas to Pay Low Wages to Immigrants

#150

> Their lobbyists claim there is a “talent shortage” among Americans and thus that the industry needs more of such work visas. This is patently false There is no way SV would have grown to what it is now without foreign talent. So the shortage has been real for the last 30+ years. Not sure why this point is still controversial. > most Silicon Valley firms sponsor their H-1B workers, who hold a temporary visa, for U.S…

> there is a “talent shortage” among Americans I see a bait and switch conducted here all the time, where thinkpiece writers will count up the number of annual graduates in Computer Science (or sometimes Information Technology in general), subtract the number of new software jobs per year, and conclude that we have massive overproduction of programmers. This is obviously stupid, but I keep seeing it. It ignores CS gr…

It seems like you're agreeing with the line you quoted? That there isn't a talent shortage?

Anyway having said that, good studies check for shortages and overproductions in more complicated ways than just totting up numbers blindly.

Post reply on HN