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That would be incredibly unfair for companies in less profitable markets. H1-B is about being able to bring in individual with skills that you have a hard time

by shmed 11y ago

That would be incredibly unfair for companies in less profitable markets. H1-B is about being able to bring in individual with skills that you have a hard time finding in the US, not necessarily about finding "incredibly profitable software engineers that we can afford to pay $150k". Let's say an university want to bring in a Vietnamese teacher to teach about South-East Asian's studies. The university simply could not find someone with that kind of knowledge in the US, hence they want to bring in someone from a foreign country to take the role, and that person is very qualified for that role. Should their application just be dismissed because they can't offer wages that compete with big tech companies offering $200k salaries to foreign engineers? When comparing h1-b applications to fulfill jobs that are of similar position in similar markets, then comparing salaries make sense, but it doesn't make sense to compare wages across different markets and positions, as it gives a HUGE advantage to profession in more profitable markets like big tech/big pharma.

vowelless 11y ago
> Let's say an university want to bring in a Vietnamese teacher to teach about South-East Asian's studies. Most universities (maybe all) are not subjected to the cap. Non-profits in general are not subjected to the cap. The proposed change should only be for the non-cap exempt jobs anyway (which tend to be at for profit places).
- shmed 11y ago
  >The proposed change should only be for the non-cap exempt jobs anyway (which tend to be at for profit places). This still doesn't solve the issue. You are just giving the advantage to high paying industry, rather than give the advantage to companies who actually have a very specific need that they have a hard time fulfilling by hiring locally (which is the point of H1-B). Let's take for example a very profitable industry, like pharmaceutical research. Let's say for a sec that the average pharma researcher makes $200k a year. Let's also assume that there's a decent pool of people in the US that have the necessary skills to work in pharma research. Now, let's say those pharma companies would rather get foreign researchers and pay them $150k a year. Those pharma companies will still have a much easier time getting those H1-b visa compared to another company that really CAN'T find the employees they need locally due to specific need (but are still not in a industry as profitable as pharma). For example, let's say you work in a marketing firms that does international projects. For example, you want to promote American sporting apparel in a foreign country. The profile you are searching to fill : Speaking the foreign language, familiar with the foreign culture, experience in sport marketing, management experience. You can't find someone locally, but it would be pretty easy to find someone with this exact profile in the foreign country you are targeting. Unfortunately, now, you can't get that person except if you are willing to pay him the same wage as someone with a Ph.D in pharmaceutical research, because you are auctioning for the same spot. Now let's say you go for it because it's essential to the success of your project, you might end up having to pay someone 3-4 time his "market" value, making it unfair to his "locally hired" colleague that have the same amount of experience and responsibilities, but don't have the right profile for a specific project.
  - sheepmullet 11y ago
    > let's say you go for it because it's essential to the success of your project, you might end up having to pay someone 3-4 time his "market" value, making it unfair to his "locally hired" colleague that have the same amount of experience and responsibilities, but don't have the right profile for a specific project. If you are critical to an important project you get paid significantly more. How is that unfair? That's the system working as intended.
sheepmullet 11y ago
Bring them in on a different visa category then.
- shmed 11y ago
  Are you suggesting the government should create a new visa category for each possible positions in each possible industry? And how do you suggest they decide of the number of visa to allocate to each category? In what category would you put very specialize positions?
  - sheepmullet 11y ago
    I'm saying if you want a visa category for exceptional staff that are actually impossible to find locally then have a specific visa category for it. Don't try and piggyback on the h1b visa. Honestly given your examples you should be more annoyed than most given the current h1b system. When these giant consulting firms get 100,000 h1bs that is 100,000 spots taken away from unique roles.

by shmed 11y ago

vowelless 11y ago

> Let's say an university want to bring in a Vietnamese teacher to teach about South-East Asian's studies. Most universities (maybe all) are not subjected to the cap. Non-profits in general are not subjected to the cap. The proposed change should only be for the non-cap exempt jobs anyway (which tend to be at for profit places).

shmed 11y ago
>The proposed change should only be for the non-cap exempt jobs anyway (which tend to be at for profit places). This still doesn't solve the issue. You are just giving the advantage to high paying industry, rather than give the advantage to companies who actually have a very specific need that they have a hard time fulfilling by hiring locally (which is the point of H1-B). Let's take for example a very profitable industry, like pharmaceutical research. Let's say for a sec that the average pharma researcher makes $200k a year. Let's also assume that there's a decent pool of people in the US that have the necessary skills to work in pharma research. Now, let's say those pharma companies would rather get foreign researchers and pay them $150k a year. Those pharma companies will still have a much easier time getting those H1-b visa compared to another company that really CAN'T find the employees they need locally due to specific need (but are still not in a industry as profitable as pharma). For example, let's say you work in a marketing firms that does international projects. For example, you want to promote American sporting apparel in a foreign country. The profile you are searching to fill : Speaking the foreign language, familiar with the foreign culture, experience in sport marketing, management experience. You can't find someone locally, but it would be pretty easy to find someone with this exact profile in the foreign country you are targeting. Unfortunately, now, you can't get that person except if you are willing to pay him the same wage as someone with a Ph.D in pharmaceutical research, because you are auctioning for the same spot. Now let's say you go for it because it's essential to the success of your project, you might end up having to pay someone 3-4 time his "market" value, making it unfair to his "locally hired" colleague that have the same amount of experience and responsibilities, but don't have the right profile for a specific project.
- sheepmullet 11y ago
  > let's say you go for it because it's essential to the success of your project, you might end up having to pay someone 3-4 time his "market" value, making it unfair to his "locally hired" colleague that have the same amount of experience and responsibilities, but don't have the right profile for a specific project. If you are critical to an important project you get paid significantly more. How is that unfair? That's the system working as intended.

sheepmullet 11y ago

Bring them in on a different visa category then.

shmed 11y ago
Are you suggesting the government should create a new visa category for each possible positions in each possible industry? And how do you suggest they decide of the number of visa to allocate to each category? In what category would you put very specialize positions?
- sheepmullet 11y ago
  I'm saying if you want a visa category for exceptional staff that are actually impossible to find locally then have a specific visa category for it. Don't try and piggyback on the h1b visa. Honestly given your examples you should be more annoyed than most given the current h1b system. When these giant consulting firms get 100,000 h1bs that is 100,000 spots taken away from unique roles.