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> Immigration and how the government can help tech with things like H-1B visas to keep and bring in more talent. Nadella pointed out that much of the company’s
by trendia 10y ago
> Immigration and how the government can help tech with things like H-1B visas to keep and bring in more talent. Nadella pointed out that much of the company’s spending on research and development was in the U.S., even if 50 percent of the sales were elsewhere, so that immigration would benefit those here.
If the H1B program remains, they need to give foreign workers the ability to switch firms while in the US. Current policy forces them to remain with their current firm, which reduces their bargaining power and puts them at risk of being overworked and exploited. Further, it reduces competition between firms, lowering wages. (e.g. it is difficult for a H1B worker to get another job with a pay raise, so they are stuck with whatever salary they have.)
A study by U Notre Dame (which I cannot find on mobile) showed that H1B visas did not increase innovation measured by patent grants, but did 1) increase company profits, and 2) decrease all salaries at the firm, citizen and non-citizen.
This suggests the true incentive of H1B visas is to increase profits by lowering wages, not to find workers that firms are unable to find as citizens.
- ojbyrne 10y ago"Current policy forces them" is pretty strong. In 6 years on an H-1B, I switched jobs 4 times. More recently, USCIS has given guidance on a "grace period" for H-1Bs who lose their employment- they now have up to sixty days to find another sponsoring employer. Yes it could be easier to switch jobs, but "force" is not correct.
- blinkingled 10y ago> USCIS has given guidance on a "grace period" for H-1Bs Phew. Boy oh boy it was a constant strain on us for 8 full years. It is pretty disturbing to not know if you are committing a crime if you were laid off while on H1B and need to look for another job!
- adrenalinelol 10y agoCouldn't agree more, if immigration policy for high skilled workers made them equals to their home-grown peers, it'd put upward pressure on salaries assuming there were reasonable limits on visas granted each year.
- treebeard901 10y agoThe whole point of bringing in H1B is to control labor costs and reduce the bargaining power of your domestic workforce. Changing jobs is unfortunately one of the fastest ways to move up the ladder. It defeats the purpose if this valuable bargaining chip is given to H1B visa holders.
- cmrdporcupine 10y agoThe US needs to adopt a generally sane immigration system for skilled workers or investors much more like what, say, Canada has. Skilled talent with some savings, job prospects, and decent French or English language skills have little problem getting into Canada to work, and it does great things for the economy overall. However, many people in fact use Canada as a 'staging area' to make a move to the the US eventually.
- ones_and_zeros 10y agoMy guess is immigration was the main reason those tech executives accepted the invitation. My bold bet is Trump removes or significantly hinders the H-1B system but enacts a new program giving green cards to any foreigner that earns a masters degree in the US, which is basically the nightmare scenario for any Trump supporter.
- user5994461 10y agoThey should start by solving the Indian Consultancy H1B problem. If you look at the H1B statistics, you'll see that all the top employers are indian consulting firms. They consume a huge percentage of the very limited H1B visa pool, only to take cheap H1B workers from abroad. The tech companies are far behind. http://h1bdata.info/topcompanies.php http://h1bdata.info/topcompanies.php
- mixedCase 10y agoAt the risk of being crucified here, Trump did say he plans to make H1Bs more expensive for companies; in hopes that the program starts being used for extraordinary talent (as meant to) rathan than cheap talent. If he keeps his promise, it's most likely to end that problem.
- focusgroup0 10y agoImmigration lawyers explaining the use of fake job ads for H1B recruitment "Our goal is NOT to find a qualified US worker." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU Follow the money :)
- simonebrunozzi 10y agoYou might be mistaking H1-B with L1 visas. H1-B allows you to switch companies; L1 doesn't.