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H1B worker here. I understand the sentiments of being replaced by an H1B worker. I just want to emphasize that the worker is not be blamed for this. The fault i
by titomc 11y ago
H1B worker here. I understand the sentiments of being replaced by an H1B worker. I just want to emphasize that the worker is not be blamed for this. The fault is with the H1B system & the consultancies which exploit the H1B system.
1. The H1B visa is supposed to be a "skilled visa". But currently this visa is purely based on luck and not on skills & that's how many bad apples game the system. The DOL approves LCA based on minimum wages. The consultancies just pay the minimum wages and bring in the H1B employee. This minimum wage should be increased to match the salary of a skilled American worker. So that this exploitation will stop.
eg: (the salaries are approximate)
In Arizona , the minimum annual salary for LCA is 62K, the average salary paid to an American worker is 115K. Consultancy firms like TCS,Infosys and many other local "one room" consultancies pays 62K and bring in H1B employees because 62K is the minimum stipulated by Department of Labor. Increasing this minimum 62K to a realistic salary like 115K will stop this abuse.
2. There is no easy job portability for H1B workers. Switching jobs on H1B is a precarious act and if something goes wrong, you will have to be out of the country immediately, no grace period. So to be on the safer side, many H1B employees stay silent and accept lowball offers. They also have kids who are going to school and a spouse who cannot work because they are on H4. So H1B workers job portability is not really easy.
Make H1B jobs portable without any strings attached. So that if an H1B employee is paid less and abused by the employer. He/She can switch jobs easily. So this will prevent H1B abuse by the employers and they will think twice before low balling an H1B worker.
3. H1B is a dual intent visa. Once the employer starts GreenCard process for the worker. The H1B worker is literally on shackles. The rules are so strict that the worker cannot change jobs easily. Cannot accept promotions or title change for years. The worker silently accepts this because he/she has a family & kids to support just like any other American worker.
All I want to convey is: The H1B employee is not be blamed for this. The very rules of the H1B system are being gamed by the consultancy companies from India.
Stopping H1B system is not the solution because all the large companies in US has huge dependency on H1B employees.
So to stop this abuse,
1. Increase the minimum wages to a more realistic one.
2. Stop lottery system and grant visas based on top salary.
3. Make the H1B job easily portable.
- ThrustVectoring 11y agoReplacing the lottery with a salary-based assignment seems like just common sense to me. Why should we allow over someone the employer says is worth $62k, when we could allow over someone the employer says is worth $110k? As a bonus, it means that the minimum wages aren't relevant, since supply and demand of skilled international workers will set the lowest wage that gets admitted to the US. This rule would unfortunately favor employers in high cost-of-living areas over low COL ones. Employees are approximately ambivalent between taking home $5k/mo and paying $2k/mo in rent, and taking home $4k/mo and paying $1k/mo in rent. But, the higher rent + higher pay scenario will get admitted well before the lower rent + lower pay. It also incentivizes putting as much of the compensation in salary as possible, and as little as possible in other benefits.
- DamnYuppie 11y agoI think you miss the point of increasing the minimum salary. It isn't to bring over better people, it is essentially to make it so that it no longer makes economic sense to replace local workers with foreign ones.
- ThrustVectoring 11y agoI'm not opposed to a minimum salary, I'm just saying that it's pointless when the market-determined salary to convince the Xth person to work in America is higher than the minimum (where X is the number of people we want to work in America through the H1-B program). Raise it if you want, but given the salary-based H1-B allocation, the salary minimum is the same thing as the quota.
- serge2k 11y ago> This rule would unfortunately favor employers in high cost-of-living areas over low COL ones > It also incentivizes putting as much of the compensation in salary as possible, and as little as possible in other benefits. Both of these to a pretty ridiculous degree. You would have issues with companies like Amazon (who pay reasonably well and so far as I know don't abuse the H1-B system) getting screwed because they either don't pay as much in cash (they like a stock heavy comp model) or because they aren't paying people bay area money.