U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers • Hacker News Board

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#191

Post by bg4 » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 4:20 AM UTC

humbleMouse wrote: post #176

joshe wrote: post #94

I've worked with a few H1-B holders in Silicon Valley and they're awesome. A great improvement would be to allow H1B holders to change jobs easily (maybe after a year). It's too easy for them to get stuck in not great situations. It would be great for everyone if they could move to better fitting jobs, especially for startups who have trouble running H1-B programs. If you are, like me, a software engineer, you should…

> I've worked with a few H1-B holders in Silicon Valley and they're awesome. To counter your anecdote, I've worked with countless H1-B's over the years, and while a handful have been awesome most of them are absolutely terrible.

Agree 100%. A handful are awesome. Many are doing software for the wrong reasons and most are generating mountains of shit code.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#192

Post by pishpash » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 4:20 AM UTC

femiagbabiaka wrote: post #174

tossaccount123 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was hyperbole to show the effect of supply and demand More and more I notice how similar software engineers are beginning to sound like the "Made in America" factory workers who said China could never do their job. Never take the present comfy situation for granted

Software engineer salaries have been rising in a globalized market. Companies can already hire wherever they want. Many do. I have no doubt that if companies can pay workers less then they will. But that’s not what’s happening.

Rising compared to what? Junior engineers are doubling or tripling up to live near work in metropolitan areas or face crushing commutes. It's a sign that even in software engineering, capital is crushing labor.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#193

Post by chrisper » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 4:21 AM UTC

It's kind of weird that work experience can't replace the master degree in this case.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#194

Post by what_ever » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 4:21 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #130

ones_and_zeros wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A great improvement would be to give them citizenship if they want it. The economic impact of immigrants is not under debate, however your examples are poor choices as I don't think any of those people came to the US on an H1B visa. If anything it's an argument against H1B.

H1B's are immigrant visas, they terminate in greencards after one renewal. The only problem is that a few countries have long lines (India, China, Philippines) on how many greencards can be granted this way per year. That should be done away with.

They don't "terminate" in GC but rest of your comment is correct.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#195

Post by jlarocco » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 4:22 AM UTC

femiagbabiaka wrote: post #157

jlarocco wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think when you're contesting a well known economic principle (increased supply tends to decrease prices given equal demand) the impetus is on you to prove the claim. That said, this would be difficult to demonstrate with data because the effect manifests as salaries growing slower than they would without H1Bs. Obviously, there are a million other variables involved, so without some kind of controlled study it's unl…

Software engineers are being hired at much higher rates than any other profession in the US and that has been going up for decades. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/...

And so has our pay. But, like I said, there are million other variables besides the size of the labor pool that affect salaries. In general, though, more candidates available for a position means a lower salary.

And there are more serious problems with H1B than just lowering salaries. It's very difficult for H1B workers to switch jobs once they're here, and employers (especially contracting shops) use that as leverage against them.

And don't even get me started on H2B workers, who often make minimum wage, have to live in employee housing, and have even less recourse than H1B workers because they make far less money.

We need better immigration policies, and I don't think tying immigration status to job status is the best way forward.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#196

Post by what_ever » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 4:24 AM UTC

firstplacelast wrote: post #121

darkestloud wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The process is a nightmare. I've changed 3 jobs under H1B.

Can't have been that bad then. General employment is a nightmare, I've only changed jobs once in the last 8 years because it's so many BS hoops to jump through.

The difference is person in H1B faces same issues as you but there are more issues which are frankly more complicated and time consuming due to visa related things.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#197

Post by jorblumesea » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 4:24 AM UTC

Why do we care about a masters degree from some India degree farm? It seems like the emphasis on accreditation misses the point entirely. There's no quality control in the US immigration process. For every brilliant engineer we get someone garbage. For every innovator or entrepreneur we get someone who is just the mother's uncle's in-law.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#198

Post by mc32 » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 4:25 AM UTC

arcticbull wrote: post #135

mc32 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d say we reciprocate what their gov would do for our workers. Their gov makes easy for Americans, we make it easy for them. They make it hard on Americans trying to work in their country, we make it hard on them. Fair is fair.

See your argument is short sighted, as these people provide economic benefit, it’s in your interest to allow as many as you can in while the other countries aren’t interested in taking your best and brightest. It’s why Canada’s tech sector stands to gain hugely while America squanders its lead. Canada’s letting in anyone smart and technical and the US is telling them no. What were arguing for is being unfair in Ameri…

Countries should do what makes sense for them. Canada is behind, they want to jump start their tech sector. They’re not a challenge to the US, China, Japan or even Russia. So good on them. We have a need for some specialists and we have a need for many low skills laborers. We need a system to evaluate need, address it appropriately and manage the foreign workforce to the advantage of Americans. Panama is free to invite all the high skilled labor if they want and become a tech power too. Let them. I encourage it.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#199

Post by peferron » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 4:26 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #130

ones_and_zeros wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A great improvement would be to give them citizenship if they want it. The economic impact of immigrants is not under debate, however your examples are poor choices as I don't think any of those people came to the US on an H1B visa. If anything it's an argument against H1B.

H1B's are immigrant visas, they terminate in greencards after one renewal. The only problem is that a few countries have long lines (India, China, Philippines) on how many greencards can be granted this way per year. That should be done away with.

> H1B's are immigrant visas

No, H-1B visas are explicitly nonimmigrant visas for temporary workers. [1]

> They terminate in greencards after one renewal

No, they don't. You can apply for a GC, but there's nothing automatic about the process, and the GC is not guaranteed to be approved either.

[1] https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-worker...

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#200

Post by femiagbabiaka » Thu, Jan 31, 2019, 4:28 AM UTC

pishpash wrote: post #192

femiagbabiaka wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software engineer salaries have been rising in a globalized market. Companies can already hire wherever they want. Many do. I have no doubt that if companies can pay workers less then they will. But that’s not what’s happening.

Rising compared to what? Junior engineers are doubling or tripling up to live near work in metropolitan areas or face crushing commutes. It's a sign that even in software engineering, capital is crushing labor.

You're describing two different problems. Housing supply in the Bay Area and New York -- the areas I'm assuming you're talking about, because most other metropolitan cities are building to keep up with supply just fine -- is incredibly low. In addition, in the Bay Area especially, the incredibly high salaries in combination with that supply is causing skyrocketing prices.