81–90 of 377 posts
I am sure locking in employees played a part in their decision. However, I have to point out that foreign graduates, especially from China are preferred in my profession due to their strong technical background. Its kind of how things evolved over time. So a similiar thing might be going on here.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
No offense to you personally, but most Americans would probably be happier with fewer H-1Bs. They are only brought over to depress wages and underpay workers. So while I sympathize with your condition, I’d like an actual ban on these types of fake specialized knowledge visa categories. L-1 and H-1 are so grossly abused it’s not even funny. The entire prevailing wage is famed and they bring over people from India with…
> most Americans would probably be happier with fewer H-1Bs America's education system is pretty poor. It would be nothing without H1Bs. Take it from Michio Kaku[1]: "The United States has the worst education system known to science. Our graduates compete regularly at the level of third world countries. How come the scientific establishment of the US doesn't collapse. If we are producing a generation of dummy. If the…
Tangent: I feel like those on work visas in the comments here are already outside of the norm that I receive resumes for and I honestly feel for their situation, hope they can stay so long as they choose to, and are paid fairly. Everyone deserves to be treated as equal humans and I feel like this is forgotten all too often.
The United States education system, while it does fail regularly, has taught most educated persons to question and be creative, yet also deliver quality. This is super desirable in this field.
I’ve reviewed a few hundred resumes, and at least a hundred on-site interviews, and I’m still trying to hold out hope for the h1b system yet am continually disappointed at the quality of candidates I’m being fed by the “approved” contract houses at the absurdly ridiculous company I work for. Faked resumes are the norm, as well as listing the fact that a dev has “Implemented UI Table View” as an Android candidate or the equivalent opposite for iOS candidates. (50% of the team I’ve hired are on work visas currently. The one contract house in question occasionally has a dev.)
The contract houses almost wholly refuse to source local talent. At first I thought it was a fluke. From one contract house - I’ve only ever been given two local devs and every other dev has been h1b. I get complaints that our hiring process is too strict because the dev can’t build a rest client app in an hour and a half, or write a method that parses a string and returns a double and an int.
Meanwhile, there are local devs I went to school with, and know of their skill level, who are looking for work.
I don’t think the education system has failed in this case - I think contractor culture of corps and contract house greed has failed us all. Also, the requirements of bachelor’s or master’s degrees has exacerbated the problem with the ridiculous cost of those degrees depending on the US schools chosen. If companies want to profit off local talent, then open up dev shops in other countries. China is the only country that’s potentially prohibitive of this practice depending on your business.
Also, which fields are you mentioning that require foreign “specialist” work that can’t pay these wages? They could apparently pay those wages in 1989. This program was setup to supply the US with skilled workers it urgently needed paying them an equivalent minimum of $121k in today’s money ($60k in 1989, which remains unchanged today).
Granted that H-1B visas should ostensibly be filled only for positions where it is difficult to find qualified American citizens or permanent residents, but in all honesty are the Department of Labor's allegations really that surprising? In the Bay Area, qualified job candidates are so scarce that it's quite common for citizens/permanent-residents to change jobs frequently. H1-B candidates are attractive for companie…
Seems like such a simple issue to fix: the only condition for getting a specialist visa should be to find an employer willing to pay a specialist salary, say above 150K. Doctors included, I see no reason to protect them from competition. Hop jobs at will but need to maintain within 85% of that level. If a company can't find workers, it should pay more up until a level that puts the competitiveness of the economy unde…
The primary objection to this is crowding out the labor market, to which I'd say: protectionism doesn't work. If there are people in another country willing to do the same job for cheaper, the invisible hand will figure out how to move the jobs there, perhaps through competition. Fighting the free market isn't going to work: figure out how to work within it. (For instance, offer a UBI for citizens only.)
Granted that H-1B visas should ostensibly be filled only for positions where it is difficult to find qualified American citizens or permanent residents, but in all honesty are the Department of Labor's allegations really that surprising? In the Bay Area, qualified job candidates are so scarce that it's quite common for citizens/permanent-residents to change jobs frequently. H1-B candidates are attractive for companie…
If companies aren't really looking for local talent, or aren't really paying prevailing wages, they have been defrauding the government, and hurting the labor market. When large scale abusers of h-1b are prevented from getting future visas, it gives room for other companies to use the visas, and hopefully they follow the rules.
There is so much hate for the H1-B visa, but let me play devil's advocate. US "lax" (not really) immigration policy improves the image of America/American companies abroad. If US starts tightening immigration laws, US companies will start outsourcing their work (which they have already started). If they start to clamp down on outsourcing, countries like India have no incentive to let US to freely use their market. Th…
That’s a fake threat. If they could outsource the work and pay less they already would. They aren’t keeping the jobs in America for their health... Go do it then.
For example, US is the best destination for doing a Ph.D. currently and ph.D. students then work in US. If US stops them from working here, they will go back work and form competitors.
China has already shown that this is achievable.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If there’s a quota to specialized knowledge workers, give them to the highest paid thus the most needed. Shouldn’t be given out in some stupid lottery... I want them to bring in people making the highest wages so they contribute the most to the economy. Not these $70k H-1Bs with fake work locations. Not going to bother defending our education system since so many foreigners are trying to get into our colleges, I’d sa…
Except the top colleges like MIT, stanford, etc, most foreigners get into US colleges because it is an easier path to get a work visa in US, that's it. Also, the 70k h1-B are currently working in US, so they pay US taxes. If they are not allowed, most of the work will be outsourced (and a lot of that has already been), so it will be a further loss to US. Also, India uses human resource as a balance in trade. They all…
Barely. Have you seen Indian tariffs?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If there’s a quota to specialized knowledge workers, give them to the highest paid thus the most needed. Shouldn’t be given out in some stupid lottery... I want them to bring in people making the highest wages so they contribute the most to the economy. Not these $70k H-1Bs with fake work locations. Not going to bother defending our education system since so many foreigners are trying to get into our colleges, I’d sa…
Except the top colleges like MIT, stanford, etc, most foreigners get into US colleges because it is an easier path to get a work visa in US, that's it. Also, the 70k h1-B are currently working in US, so they pay US taxes. If they are not allowed, most of the work will be outsourced (and a lot of that has already been), so it will be a further loss to US. Also, India uses human resource as a balance in trade. They all…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems like such a simple issue to fix: the only condition for getting a specialist visa should be to find an employer willing to pay a specialist salary, say above 150K. Doctors included, I see no reason to protect them from competition. Hop jobs at will but need to maintain within 85% of that level. If a company can't find workers, it should pay more up until a level that puts the competitiveness of the economy unde…
This is such a one-sided point of view. Imagine that you're immigrating to a country, and after a few years you get fire, or you want to take a sabbatical, or you want to change industry for a lower paying job. Now under your rules you cannot do that. What do you do? You've created your life in the US, you have friends, perhaps a girlfriend, maybe even a house. Now you have to leave?
Granted that H-1B visas should ostensibly be filled only for positions where it is difficult to find qualified American citizens or permanent residents, but in all honesty are the Department of Labor's allegations really that surprising? In the Bay Area, qualified job candidates are so scarce that it's quite common for citizens/permanent-residents to change jobs frequently. H1-B candidates are attractive for companie…
Seems like such a simple issue to fix: the only condition for getting a specialist visa should be to find an employer willing to pay a specialist salary, say above 150K. Doctors included, I see no reason to protect them from competition. Hop jobs at will but need to maintain within 85% of that level. If a company can't find workers, it should pay more up until a level that puts the competitiveness of the economy unde…
What does that affect? All undergraduate students coming to the U.S. who spend $$$ on a 4 year college degree here and then try to find a job. You’ve just wiped that demographic out because they won’t get 150k salary.
Why would they be inclined to come to the US and spend all that money on an education here? They won’t.
And if the best talent doesn’t come here to compete intellectually with Americans in a classroom then Americans lose.
H1Bs comprise a big chunk of people who come here, get an education here, prove their competence and make the American economy grow.
You won’t get them to come here with a high salary cap like 150k.
I’ve been on h1b for over 7 years now , with no chance of getting a green card because I was born in India , all my immigrant friends who started working at the same time have already gotten their green cards - they all have the option to quit their jobs if they feel like they are being underpaid or exploited. But not me , I’m looking at 70 years before I get my freedom , until then I have to tolerate the indentured…
Is staying in the US really that much better than trying to make it big in India? Ironically, many of my Chinese colleagues have returned to China because they can make a lot more money there. And they will have a higher chance of being promoted to executive positions. In addition, among my Chinese American friends, just about all of them say that their relatives that stayed in China are wealthier and more successful…
It boils down to favoritism and nepotism that is rife back home. This probably doesn't get much airtime since its hard to even grasp for people in Western societies. The closest that comes to mind is the Italian concept of Raccomandazione - the practice of using social connections to gain an upper hand in employment and in other aspects of public life in general [1] [2]. The Chinese-origin UK lady in the video explains this in the Chinese context.[3]
I'm sure the Indian context is much the same in substance if not in the degree, to which this factor plays a role in determining why they rather not return.
[1] Raccomandazione (Italy) - Global Informality Project
http://in-formality.com/wiki/index.php?title=Raccomandazione...
[2] Italy's culture threatens its economic future - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/italys-culture-threatens-its-...
[3] Why Chinese people choose to stay in the UK