4 ms·

I'm not who you are addressing exactly, but it is not "bigoted" to make the claim that bringing more workers into a workforce will drive salaries down.

by latj 11y ago

ashwinaj 11y ago
I am replying to those who make claims that H1B workers are being paid below market rate, hence driving down salaries. There is a minimum wage requirement as I mentioned which is approved by the state department of labor. Again, these "driving down wages" doesn't hold water when the H1B salaries are public information.
- nitrogen 11y ago
  How does that minimum wage compare to free market resident wages, by percentile? Is it median? 25th? Lower? Higher?
- latj 11y ago
  Ok, we've heard your proposition. Now make some arguments. Now show some evidence. For example, mean pay for a software developer in state of California is $119,970 according to Bureau of Labor Statistics [1]. What is the minimum wage required for a H1B software developer in California [2]? What is the actual mean pay? My instinct is that you are correct and H1B visas are not driving down salaries- but thats just a guess, I have no idea. But your arguments so far are "dont be a bigot" and "its all public information". If its public information, have you seen it? If so, share it with us. If not, how are you sure you are correct? If you are just venting, then vent away my friend. Otherwise, it is ineffective to fight bigotry by telling people they are bigots. Share data from a trusted source, give sound analysis, and hope for the best. Good luck. 1. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151132.htm http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151132.htm 2. I would have dug this up myself but its actually a bit of work to compile as a meaningful look at this issue requires looking at many geographical areas and professions.
  - ashwinaj 11y ago
    > "What is the minimum wage required for a H1B software developer in California [2]? What is the actual mean pay?" How many years of experience (0,5,10,15,20?)? What is the education level required (PhD vs bachelors/masters)? It's not as simple as "H1B software developer in California" nor are the salaries. They vary between companies (eg., Netflix pays more than Google) In any case, here you go: http://h1bdata.info/ http://h1bdata.info/ You can check what your H1B colleagues make based on their job title. Edit: To x0x0, I'm not going to parse out data for each and every company, I have a day job you see :) I've worked for four companies (public and private), and I see that the wages are comparable to local workers (of those who chose to share their wages) and the established market rate by the state dept. of labor for the said job title. Somewhat anecdotal? Yes. It is definitely better than a blanket "H1B drives down wages".
    - x0x0 11y ago
      iow, you continue to assert without proof that h1b immigration doesn't constrain or reduce wages.
      - ashwinaj 11y ago
        See my EDIT above. I am no economist to parse all this information, but in my experience and people I know the wage argument for "genuine" H1B applicants is hyperbole.
        x0x0 11y ago
        So you claim, absent any supporting data, that adding 500k skilled employees (85k times 6 years), not even including other types of visas doesn't affect labor markets? That requires either solid proof or, well, motivated reasoning. 3.6m software engineers in the US; if even half of h1b holders are devs that's a sizeable increase. Even under modest demand elasticity assumptions you can back of napkin estimate a large influence http://www.computerworld.com/article/2483690/it-careers/india-to-overtake-u-s--on-number-of-developers-by-2017.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2483690/it-careers/indi...

I'm not who you are addressing exactly, but it is not "bigoted" to make the claim that bringing more workers into a workforce will drive salaries down.

by latj 11y ago

I'm not who you are addressing exactly, but it is not "bigoted" to make the claim that bringing more workers into a workforce will drive salaries down.

ashwinaj 11y ago

I am replying to those who make claims that H1B workers are being paid below market rate, hence driving down salaries. There is a minimum wage requirement as I mentioned which is approved by the state department of labor. Again, these "driving down wages" doesn't hold water when the H1B salaries are public information.

nitrogen 11y ago
How does that minimum wage compare to free market resident wages, by percentile? Is it median? 25th? Lower? Higher?
latj 11y ago
Ok, we've heard your proposition. Now make some arguments. Now show some evidence. For example, mean pay for a software developer in state of California is $119,970 according to Bureau of Labor Statistics [1]. What is the minimum wage required for a H1B software developer in California [2]? What is the actual mean pay? My instinct is that you are correct and H1B visas are not driving down salaries- but thats just a guess, I have no idea. But your arguments so far are "dont be a bigot" and "its all public information". If its public information, have you seen it? If so, share it with us. If not, how are you sure you are correct? If you are just venting, then vent away my friend. Otherwise, it is ineffective to fight bigotry by telling people they are bigots. Share data from a trusted source, give sound analysis, and hope for the best. Good luck. 1. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151132.htm http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151132.htm 2. I would have dug this up myself but its actually a bit of work to compile as a meaningful look at this issue requires looking at many geographical areas and professions.
- ashwinaj 11y ago
  > "What is the minimum wage required for a H1B software developer in California [2]? What is the actual mean pay?" How many years of experience (0,5,10,15,20?)? What is the education level required (PhD vs bachelors/masters)? It's not as simple as "H1B software developer in California" nor are the salaries. They vary between companies (eg., Netflix pays more than Google) In any case, here you go: http://h1bdata.info/ http://h1bdata.info/ You can check what your H1B colleagues make based on their job title. Edit: To x0x0, I'm not going to parse out data for each and every company, I have a day job you see :) I've worked for four companies (public and private), and I see that the wages are comparable to local workers (of those who chose to share their wages) and the established market rate by the state dept. of labor for the said job title. Somewhat anecdotal? Yes. It is definitely better than a blanket "H1B drives down wages".
  - x0x0 11y ago
    iow, you continue to assert without proof that h1b immigration doesn't constrain or reduce wages.
    - ashwinaj 11y ago
      See my EDIT above. I am no economist to parse all this information, but in my experience and people I know the wage argument for "genuine" H1B applicants is hyperbole.
      - x0x0 11y ago
        So you claim, absent any supporting data, that adding 500k skilled employees (85k times 6 years), not even including other types of visas doesn't affect labor markets? That requires either solid proof or, well, motivated reasoning. 3.6m software engineers in the US; if even half of h1b holders are devs that's a sizeable increase. Even under modest demand elasticity assumptions you can back of napkin estimate a large influence http://www.computerworld.com/article/2483690/it-careers/india-to-overtake-u-s--on-number-of-developers-by-2017.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2483690/it-careers/indi...