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Updates to H-1B

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Re: Updates to H-1B

#801

Post by newsclues »

snakeyjake wrote: post #342
HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #161

A supposed shortage of qualified US applicants for tech jobs, especially software developers, doesn't jibe with the huge numbers of US developers currently looking for work, including highly experienced older workers suffering from age discrimination. I'd be surprised if more than 5-10% of H-1B positions are ones where the hiring company has even looked for US applicants.

My employer cannot hire H-1Bs. You must be a US citizen to work for my company. No "US Persons" (visa holders) or foreigners allowed. You have to be eligible for a Secret security clearance. You don't have to get one if you don't want to as there is usually plenty of uncleared work to go around, but you have to be eligible in case that goes away and we need to put you in for a clearance. We cannot find qualified appl…

Have you tried recruiting people in school in mathematics programs?

You’ve repeatedly mentioned being unwilling to train linear algebra skills, but will train other things, so go recruit math nerds.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#802

Post by ponow »

m00x wrote: post #739
diob wrote: post #724

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it just sounds like the ole "no one wants to work anymore" line when really it's you're not paying enough.

We pay $400-700k for L4-L6 and we have a hard time finding qualified candidates.

Define "qualified".

Re: Updates to H-1B

#803

Post by newsclues »

kqgnkqgn wrote: post #120

Seem like sensible changes, though more is still needed. Requiring H1B holders to leave the country to renew paperwork is an insane anachronism. The per-country caps also seem like a throwback to the early 1900's era immigration exclusion policies. Re: the concerns over "immigrants taking our jobs!". As a native-born American working in a large tech company today - the threat is very clearly not from H1B's and other…

Per county caps are good protection for your culture.

Canada suffered because a lack of caps.

It leads to a concentration that can be overwhelming.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#804

Post by ponow »

fn-mote wrote: post #600
biztos wrote: post #535

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to pile on, but if linear algebra is really a part of the day-to-day job and not some manager’s mistaken idea of a proxy for more general talent, then you’re hiring specialists and the pool will not be that large. People who remember all their math and enjoy it and can also code, are also very employable at all the AI companies and departments, including at Meta. And how do you know if someone’s eligible for secu…

> if linear algebra is really a part of the day-to-day job [...] then you’re hiring specialists It kind of bothers me that the parent and other readers here are passing off knowing linear algebra as some kind of esoteric skill. Linear algebra is a year 2 course in a undergraduate eduation. There are polished libraries to make it fast. Unless you mean enough knowledge to be writing linear algebra libraries , there is…

Linear algebra is not a universal requirement for CS and EE.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#805

Post by mianos »

01100011 wrote: post #603
ivalm wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don’t support h1b, of the last 3000 applicants we had only 1 was qualified. It’s super hard to hire strong swe.

Yep. We pay a lot. We are a company you've heard of and we're doing well. For our systems engineering roles, we've had a hell of a time finding good people. Plenty of interviews with folks who turn out not to know basic C programming or systems level algorithms. It seems like systems level programmers are either firmly employed somewhere else or have switch roles to an easier domain. I know I've considered going back…

Where "turn out not to know basic C programming or systems level algorithms" is failing some leetcode puzzle they have not touched in the last 20 years while they have been full time writing C and C++? So hell of a time not finding your definition of 'good people' would be kinda expected.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#806

Post by [deleted] »

Ardren wrote: post #764
0086b416f103 wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We cannot find qualified applicants. Your company is incompetent. I've applied to hundreds of companies like yours within Huntsville, AL in the past year, rejected or ghosted all the time. Defense morons will talk about how hard their work is and how they can't find anyone to do it. Completely skip over how prevalent affirmative action is in their hiring process; who were you guys interviewing in 2020? Why is the d…

Wow, I can't imagine why companies don't want to hire you

[deleted]

Re: Updates to H-1B

#807

Post by ponow »

yazzku wrote: post #605
fn-mote wrote: post #600

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if linear algebra is really a part of the day-to-day job [...] then you’re hiring specialists It kind of bothers me that the parent and other readers here are passing off knowing linear algebra as some kind of esoteric skill. Linear algebra is a year 2 course in a undergraduate eduation. There are polished libraries to make it fast. Unless you mean enough knowledge to be writing linear algebra libraries , there is…

Why is this down-voted? I was going to add most people have already seen some sort of linear algebra even in high school. Determinants, Gaussian elimination, etc. It's unclear what "linear algebra" means to GP, though. I agree writing linear algebra libraries is next level, since that involves numerical code and knowing FP math well.

> Determinants, Gaussian elimination, etc.

Umm, not in Pennsylvania government high schools, not typically. Not by a long shot.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#808

Post by ponow »

wakawaka28 wrote: post #510
calculatte wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You didn't name your employer for someone who might be interested. Perhaps visibility is one reason you can't find anyone? I applied to a similar position locally this year. I far exceed their requirements and experience and I got rejected at the application stage. And the same goes for nearly all of other places I applied to. Hiring has most definitely changed over the years. They are not just looking for "qualified…

>I applied to a similar position locally this year. I far exceed their requirements and experience and I got rejected at the application stage. Could be "This one is overqualified, we can't pay that much" or "He doesn't have experience in the exact thing we need." Or just that they want a qualified applicant but they've got lots of options.

But then the narrative of "there aren't enough qualified people" collapses, and H1-Bs unjustified.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#809

Post by grumple »

snakeyjake wrote: post #342
HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #161

A supposed shortage of qualified US applicants for tech jobs, especially software developers, doesn't jibe with the huge numbers of US developers currently looking for work, including highly experienced older workers suffering from age discrimination. I'd be surprised if more than 5-10% of H-1B positions are ones where the hiring company has even looked for US applicants.

My employer cannot hire H-1Bs. You must be a US citizen to work for my company. No "US Persons" (visa holders) or foreigners allowed. You have to be eligible for a Secret security clearance. You don't have to get one if you don't want to as there is usually plenty of uncleared work to go around, but you have to be eligible in case that goes away and we need to put you in for a clearance. We cannot find qualified appl…

What you’re saying just doesn’t jive with the experience devs have when applying for jobs. You hear horror stories about juniors applying for hundreds of jobs. They are absolutely qualified for entry level work - they have CS degrees.

I have experienced applying for dozens, including those posted to HN: most won’t respond at all. Maybe months later you’ll get an auto-reject message. Or you’ll go through several interviews not to be selected, even while passing technical assessments. My colleagues and friends have similar experiences.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#810

Post by shitlord »

bubblethink wrote: post #660
onetimeusename wrote: post #650

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are required to by law but I saw something odd once. My company published the job they wanted an immigrant to fill in some weird printed newspaper that I doubt had much readership if any so obviously they got no offers. Then they take that and say they couldn't find a citizen for the role so they had to get an immigrant. I still question if maybe I missed something because if what I saw is true, it really breaks…

What you are talking about is PERM. That's a requirement that the department of labor has established. When you want to hire an immigrant permanently, DOL requires that you take out an ad in a Sunday newspaper. It benefits the lawyers and the government greatly as this is a good source of revenue for both of them. As far as the actual job goes, that job was never open. The person is already working for the company on…

I wonder why US citizens aren't regularly exploiting this. Subscribe to the newspaper, apply to the job, and sue the company when they ignore you.
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