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Updates to H-1B

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Re: Updates to H-1B

#901

Post by pizzalife »

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…

>No "US Persons" (visa holders) or foreigners allowed.

You are not a US person as a visa holder. You are however a US person if you have permanent residency (green card).

Re: Updates to H-1B

#902

Post by flyingpenguin »

pandaman wrote: post #525
yieldcrv wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's an assumption its just as likely that their process is auto-rejecting candidates and nobody has looked yet "After his HR department hadn't found a single candidate for a job, the manager submitted his own resume. It was auto-rejected." syndicated here https://www.yourtango.com/self/manager-proves-hr-system-auto... and the associated reddit comment that the articles are based off here https://www.reddit.com/r/c…

It's not an assumption, Affirmative Action along with many other requirements is mandated for the contractors working with the US. You can start from here https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/program-areas/employers/fe...

I have worked for a few defense contractors in my time. There is significantly more diversity outside of defense than inside defense.

I had a team of 14 with 2 women and 1 non-white male. I had a team of 10 with 0 women and 0 non-white male. I had a team of 20 with 1 women and 0 non-white male.

Looking at it another way, thats 40 successful white male hires, and 4 successful non-white male hires.

if only having access to 91% of jobs instead of 100% is the reason you can't get hired....

edit: To clarify, as a software developer of 10+ years both in defense and faang, I have never once had a team where there was less than 50% white men.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#903

Post by DiggyJohnson »

SauciestGNU wrote: post #658
beambot wrote: post #583

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, we pay well. Prove it. What city are you in, and what is total comp for software engineer & hardware engineer with 20 years of experience? I worked in national defense. It was a pain in the ass: shit pay, worst politics, massive tolerance for incompetence & mediocrity, meeting hell, and secrecy (necessary, but "need to know" gatekeeping wasnt at times).

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…

> I'd expect (spitballing here) a staff eng to be making 300k base with substantial bonus/espp on top

This is a fairytale in DoD work and while I think there's room for us to improve our compensation I'm not sure this is a reasonable number at the moment. Please don't flame me for this, just sharing my opinion. I work on a critical DoD new-work project.

The only way to achieve that number in this sector would be private consulting with a very strong network. I will say that it's a very easy world to network in, at least in my experience. I also find the work and location I'm in very meaningful and interesting compared to most of the private sector work accessible to me at this point in my career.

I don't think as many people love remote work as HN suggests. We have an extremely flexible hybrid and PTO policy here, and we're in a great midsize city that people love living in.

This is just a random jumble of thoughts in response. Cheers

Re: Updates to H-1B

#904

Post by grumple »

jonny_eh wrote: post #114
crmd wrote: post #68

It’s never been clear to me why this program exists in the first place, other than to put downward pressure on US STEM wages. What am I missing?

Global competition exists. If US companies can't hire the best, others will. I hope you don't assume that all the best workers/researchers are born within US borders.

Do you think the average H1B or other visa holder in STEM is among “the best”? I’m forced to hire non-American engineers (contractors) because my company is too cheap to pay for and commit to paying American workers full time for a couple of years. There are certainly a ton of qualified Americans who can work for us (fully remote) for not much more money, and their native English skills would make them objectively better at the position. I would even hire juniors straight out of school, but the corporate bs gets in the way.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#905

Post by _yb2s »

edc117 wrote: post #900
_yb2s wrote: post #533

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am slowly coming to grips with the fact that this is a genuine widespread hate movement, and the average person that supports it deeply feels this hatred, and personally blames their problems on anyone from another country, culture, or skin color- and doesn't believe those people deserve to be treated as human. I couldn't be more disappointed, angry, and terrified about what comes next.

Far too extreme a view. I'm very unhappy with the H1-B program and how it has been used to depress wages for engineers, but I understand (and agree with) the need for us to compete globally and not stagnate. I have nothing but respect for a lot of overseas engineers and have worked with some very intelligent, kind, generous individuals in my time. What I strongly oppose is - and I've seen this up close and personal t…

Reasonable criticisms of specific policy or programs (like you mention) is not what I or the poster above was referring to- there is a widespread cultural zeitgeist going on right now that is fundamentally emotionally based on hatred, and will broadly advocate for any policy that will harm groups they hate. Comments in this HN post show how widespread and normalized these feelings are, which wouldn't have been normal to express publicly until now.

This is a terrifying time to be in the USA for anyone with the "wrong" skin color, accent, culture, religion, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.- and many of the people I know in those groups are actively preparing and planning for the worst imaginable outcomes. People in those "wrong groups" are terrified right now, and people not in them - which includes much of HN - are in a bubble and not aware of what is happening.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#906

Post by DiggyJohnson »

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.

Do you work in big tech, high finance, or private equity?

Re: Updates to H-1B

#907

Post by DiggyJohnson »

rgbrenner wrote: post #851
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…

We cannot find qualified applicants. ... [a bunch of requirements] ... No, we don't pay as much as Meta. ... [some more requirements] The shortage on $5000 ferarris continues as well.

I work in the space. You are massively understating the difficulty of finding candidates willing to get a security clearance, and the cost to the company of sponsoring those clearances. It's not as simple as the compensation number alone.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#908

Post by SauciestGNU »

DiggyJohnson wrote: post #903
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…

> I'd expect (spitballing here) a staff eng to be making 300k base with substantial bonus/espp on top This is a fairytale in DoD work and while I think there's room for us to improve our compensation I'm not sure this is a reasonable number at the moment. Please don't flame me for this, just sharing my opinion. I work on a critical DoD new-work project. The only way to achieve that number in this sector would be priv…

I appreciate your insider perspective and insight here. I realize that most industries don't pay their engineers like tech companies do. I just wish that we as workers instead of accepting less would instead agitate for better wages across the board. I previously left a very engaging pharmaceutical research job to work in finance because the money I was leaving on the table got to be too much for me to justify, regardless of how much I enjoyed the work.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#909

Post by sokoloff »

Jcampuzano2 wrote: post #885
sokoloff wrote: post #509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d imagine that the rusty candidate could refresh themself on linear algebra in what, two three-hour evenings before the interview.

If you think of it from a return on investment/expected value point of view, why would you ever take time out of your day to refresh yourself on linear algebra and other numerical methods assuming its not out of personal interest just to apply somewhere that already has so many barriers to entry that don't exist elsewhere, on top of admitting it will not pay as much as other positions that would require these skills.…

I agree with you on the overall reasoning, but I conclude that "this job is not worth applying to even if it took 6 seconds of preparation" rather than "this job is not worth applying to because it would take 6 hours of preparation".

Re: Updates to H-1B

#910

Post by intermerda »

eweise wrote: post #185
patrickhogan1 wrote: post #16

Ah, classic regulatory theater. The administration, after 4 years of not introducing these changes, is now suddenly scrambling to roll them out. They’re dropping them right before a major transition, with an implementation timeline conveniently set for after the transition. It’s a clever little maneuver. When the inevitable reversal happens, they can show up at fundraising galas telling donors, “We tried! We were so…

It will make Trump look great reversing a policy that steals good paying jobs from Americans.

Capitalism is good! No not like that!
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