4 ms·

Who sets the quota? And how do we ensure the quota isn't lobbied to be resized to the point where it allows cheap labor?

Shivetya 10y ago
what is going to prevent even further off shoring then? Software development, support, and even project management, are all easy candidates for off shoring and with ever improving conferencing tools, change management, and similar, its bound that there will be more competition. So either the cost come down because they live and work here or the costs drop faster as the work simply goes off shore. Far too many in the tech industry are first to jump at competition in their areas of expertise but mock those concerned about workers similar to those at Carrier whose jobs are moving to Mexico as either progress or being non competitive
- st3v3r 10y ago
  The terrible experiences that companies are having at offshoring? I mean, there's a reason why they're bringing in the H1Bs, or paying Tata, Infosys, et al for those consultants instead of doing the offshoring in the first place.
ethbro 10y ago
Peg the minimum to some sort of standardized wage / poverty / CoL metric. Salaries being paid to H1-Bs rise overly much, quota increases. Salaries fall, quota shrinks. It's not overly hard to design a compensation-based system that guarantees use for only extraordinary talent, because the current abuse is solely because low salaries are still possible.
1024core 10y ago
The quota is set by Congress. It was 65K for many years, but I hear during the bubble it was temporarily increased.
- davidw 10y ago
  Sounds like a 'magic number' to me. What's it based on?
  - SilverCurve 10y ago
    It's Congress's work, so it's likely a compromise between parties.
    - davidw 10y ago
      Which means it's entirely a number pulled out of someone's ass rather than anything related to reality. http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number-of-immigrants.html http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number...
  - st3v3r 10y ago
    A number that sounds good. There isn't much in the way of reasoning behind it.
- maverick_iceman 10y ago
  65K open to everyone and 20K for those who possess US masters degree or higher.

Shivetya 10y ago

what is going to prevent even further off shoring then? Software development, support, and even project management, are all easy candidates for off shoring and with ever improving conferencing tools, change management, and similar, its bound that there will be more competition. So either the cost come down because they live and work here or the costs drop faster as the work simply goes off shore. Far too many in the tech industry are first to jump at competition in their areas of expertise but mock those concerned about workers similar to those at Carrier whose jobs are moving to Mexico as either progress or being non competitive

st3v3r 10y ago
The terrible experiences that companies are having at offshoring? I mean, there's a reason why they're bringing in the H1Bs, or paying Tata, Infosys, et al for those consultants instead of doing the offshoring in the first place.

ethbro 10y ago

Peg the minimum to some sort of standardized wage / poverty / CoL metric. Salaries being paid to H1-Bs rise overly much, quota increases. Salaries fall, quota shrinks. It's not overly hard to design a compensation-based system that guarantees use for only extraordinary talent, because the current abuse is solely because low salaries are still possible.

1024core 10y ago

The quota is set by Congress. It was 65K for many years, but I hear during the bubble it was temporarily increased.

davidw 10y ago
Sounds like a 'magic number' to me. What's it based on?
- SilverCurve 10y ago
  It's Congress's work, so it's likely a compromise between parties.
  - davidw 10y ago
    Which means it's entirely a number pulled out of someone's ass rather than anything related to reality. http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number-of-immigrants.html http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number...
- st3v3r 10y ago
  A number that sounds good. There isn't much in the way of reasoning behind it.
maverick_iceman 10y ago
65K open to everyone and 20K for those who possess US masters degree or higher.