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Updates to H-1B

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Re: Updates to H-1B

#831

Post by jeffhuys »

valicord wrote: post #704
throwaway48476 wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America does not owe the world a green card.

Does America want smart people to come here and advance science/technology/economy or would she rather close the doors and watch other countries get ahead?

I think it’s more a question of do you want to enjoy the same benefits as your parents? Yes? Then protect those benefits.

Not protecting them is how you get behind. America produces smart people as well.

Ps. I’m Dutch. This same rhetoric is all in the West. It’s shifting.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#832

Post by pilotneko »

ponector wrote: post #450
snakeyjake wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

So many contradictions! You pay well, but not so much. You search for qualified applicants but can hire a student. You require linear algebra but ok with technical writer. Looks like your managers don't know who they need to hire or don't want to really hire.

Don’t forget “we don’t build weapons…well the company does but my team doesn’t.”

Re: Updates to H-1B

#833

Post by DragonStrength »

n144q wrote: post #70
KerrAvon wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unclear. They're not going to be consistent or competent, and the intent of everything they do will be to either part out the government to their friends, weaponize the US government against perceived enemies. And they might reward people who kiss the ring by granting exceptions. Really, given the premise, anyone sane should kill H-1B entirely for tech: "The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cann…

> CS schools are full I guess you never paid any attention to the nationality of students enrolled in CS classes.

The undergrads at my university were mostly US-born. I believe that's the case most places, even elite universities. The more expensive universities are incentivized to take more international students for the money though -- and obviously there's enough wealthy people globally to fill whatever slots they offer. There are plenty of good engineers from the US who simply weren't lucky enough to be born to rich parents in CA. It turns out moving 2000 miles from home for a worse quality of life isn't super attractive to people born in the US when your whole family still lives in the same region. Of course, if you're born in India or China, the value proposition is a bit different.

Perhaps geographic restrictions on H-1Bs would spread the wealth: force these companies to prove they can't find engineers in the US by looking outside the wealthiest enclaves in the country, where even FAANG engineers complain about cost of living. We'd ease the Bay Area housing crisis, lift up other regions of the country, and provide more domestic-born citizens a path to good jobs while maintaining their own communities.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#834

Post by randcraw »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #589
dmayle wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why H1-B visas should have a minimum salary requirement equal to 20% over whichever is greater, median salary for the role in the industry, or median salary for the role in the company (and whichever is greater, US-wide, or local pay scale). This way, a company is always incentivized to find local talent, but when they are actually unable to, they have a path to find the expertise they need. The U.S. could re…

And how you going to enforce this?

Require employers of each H1-B to submit (along with the hire's w-4 that they send to Uncle Sam that already includes the job's wages and benefits), the position description in the job ad, the candidate's resume, and the matching wage band the job purportedly falls into and exceeds by 20% (or whatever the required margin is). It should be trivial to automate the validation process. Then do random checks to confirm those purported facts, especially of employers who hire large numbers of H1-Bs and have past violations.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#835

Post by miningape »

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…

> ISO certified clean room in their house

Well it's not ISO certified, and its more of a box than a room. But yes I do actually have access to a sterile (not sanitised) environment at home.

I can't work for you on account of my SA citizenship though. It looks like my only option to get that kind of clearance is to start my own company.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#836

Post by UncleMeat »

mwigdahl wrote: post #829
ec109685 wrote: post #773

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you do apply, there is a whole process to exclude you from the position. You'll be too qualified or under-qualified or your salary expectations won't match the advertisement. Or they'll find some other reason to strike you. Why would companies want to do that? Big tech has wage scales and pretty rigorous processes to ensure even pay at level, so what is the incentive to be biased against US born employees there?

For one, because an H-1B holder is legally bound to the hiring company and can't seek work elsewhere. It is much higher level of employer leverage, particularly in a hot market.

I've managed a team at one of the big tech companies for a bunch of years. I've managed a couple people on h1b, all with graduate degrees from premier US institutions.

Never once have I heard anything even resembling "work your h1bs harder because they won't leave." They all joined on the same pay scale as legal permanent residents and were all evaluated through a process where nobody else in the room knew who was a legal permanent resident or not (I only knew because I needed to sign off on forms describing their job responsibilities to the government).

At most this is some aggregate effect of "people changing employers less is good for employers generally."

This doesn't really vibe as abuse of the program to me. I'd vastly prefer it if the policies gave people on h1bs significantly more confidence in changing roles and more time to find a new job should they lose their job, but is this really a decision of the tech companies rather than an output of the immigration policies?

Re: Updates to H-1B

#838

Post by Clubber »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #589
dmayle wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why H1-B visas should have a minimum salary requirement equal to 20% over whichever is greater, median salary for the role in the industry, or median salary for the role in the company (and whichever is greater, US-wide, or local pay scale). This way, a company is always incentivized to find local talent, but when they are actually unable to, they have a path to find the expertise they need. The U.S. could re…

And how you going to enforce this?

Random audits, like the IRS does.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#839

Post by thumbsup-_- »

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.

There are plenty of software engineers but many of them may not be qualified for the currently open jobs. So, yes, there are open jobs and there are unhired americans but programs like H1-b make even more highly talented pool of people available which in turn increases innovation and productivity in economy.

So, it's not just a plain numbers game, it's more about innovation, productivity, talent pools and of course, capitalism.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#840

Post by Redoubts »

nativeit wrote: post #676
SauciestGNU wrote: post #658

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would I work in person for less money when I can work remote? For in person work on critical applications like satellites, I'd expect (spitballing here) a staff eng to be making 300k base with substantial bonus/espp on top. Consider that most midsize tech companies are going to pay staff level 200k or above and ask how the company in question compares, before pricing in the crushing inflexibility of in person wor…

[flagged]

My mortgage is meaningful too
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