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Isn't the solution to H1B abuse to just let people work anywhere they want after being granted the visa? This would then let the market determine the salary for

Isn't the solution to H1B abuse to just let people work anywhere they want after being granted the visa? This would then let the market determine the salary for this class of workers, and should put a stop to the abuses by big consulting firms.

davidw 10y ago
This is precisely the solution. Maybe some kind of points based system would work too: "do you meet qualifications X, Y, and Z? Ok, great!" - that could even work to limit silly magic numbers of visas, as well. http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number-of-immigrants.html http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number...
Bartweiss 10y ago
I've been annoyed for years now that "H1B reform" is somehow restricted to conservative, anti-immigration positions. The pro-immigration, free-market solution would still address all the issues with contract/consulting abuses. I'd love to see the H-1B visa cap expanded, I'd just like it to be done alongside a move to let workers actually enter the labor market like citizens. The current "must pay market rates" setup is a bizarre attempt to duplicate market results under a command system, and we see all of the mis-labelling and other abuses we'd expect with that approach. I did see that as of 2017 there's a brief window to find a new visa'd job after leaving an H-1B position, which is a nice start. But I'd really rather see the thing reformed via something like "he's a skilled labor visa, go for it". Even if employers were still forced to apply for visa slots it'd be progress to say "here are people with visas, here are companies with slots, coordinate however you'd like".
frebord 10y ago
I guess you could stop calling it abuse at that point, but h1b participants are coming here for better opportunities which I think will often mean they are willing to work for much less than an American. Not saying whether this is good or bad, but I think this is the real target of the current administration, to make sure Americans are getting these jobs before immigrants.
- davidw 10y ago
  It's a good thing that programming work is very difficult to ship over, say, the internet to other countries where they'll do it for cheaper, or have friendlier immigration policies (Canada for instance). Truth be told, I'm actually not that concerned. The pool of good programmers, even worldwide, is not that big, and as a decent programmer, I don't feel threatened by some companies going for the absolute cheapest people they can get. I figure they'll get what they pay for and things will work out in the end.
dragonwriter 10y ago
> Isn't the solution to H1B abuse to just let people work anywhere they want after being granted the visa? The solution to H1B abuse is to abolish the visa category entirely. The solution to "there is insufficient domestic supply of high-skill labor, and making more foreign workers available for domestic work of this kind would, with appropriate controls, produce a public benefit", if that is really the case, is to design a system with appropriate controls that does that, which probably won't look much like the H-1B program. It'll start with an analysis of the real nature and extent of the shortage, and the nature of the opportunity for public benefit.

davidw 10y ago

This is precisely the solution. Maybe some kind of points based system would work too: "do you meet qualifications X, Y, and Z? Ok, great!" - that could even work to limit silly magic numbers of visas, as well. http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number-of-immigrants.html http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number...

Bartweiss 10y ago

I've been annoyed for years now that "H1B reform" is somehow restricted to conservative, anti-immigration positions. The pro-immigration, free-market solution would still address all the issues with contract/consulting abuses. I'd love to see the H-1B visa cap expanded, I'd just like it to be done alongside a move to let workers actually enter the labor market like citizens. The current "must pay market rates" setup is a bizarre attempt to duplicate market results under a command system, and we see all of the mis-labelling and other abuses we'd expect with that approach. I did see that as of 2017 there's a brief window to find a new visa'd job after leaving an H-1B position, which is a nice start. But I'd really rather see the thing reformed via something like "he's a skilled labor visa, go for it". Even if employers were still forced to apply for visa slots it'd be progress to say "here are people with visas, here are companies with slots, coordinate however you'd like".

frebord 10y ago

I guess you could stop calling it abuse at that point, but h1b participants are coming here for better opportunities which I think will often mean they are willing to work for much less than an American. Not saying whether this is good or bad, but I think this is the real target of the current administration, to make sure Americans are getting these jobs before immigrants.

davidw 10y ago
It's a good thing that programming work is very difficult to ship over, say, the internet to other countries where they'll do it for cheaper, or have friendlier immigration policies (Canada for instance). Truth be told, I'm actually not that concerned. The pool of good programmers, even worldwide, is not that big, and as a decent programmer, I don't feel threatened by some companies going for the absolute cheapest people they can get. I figure they'll get what they pay for and things will work out in the end.

dragonwriter 10y ago

> Isn't the solution to H1B abuse to just let people work anywhere they want after being granted the visa? The solution to H1B abuse is to abolish the visa category entirely. The solution to "there is insufficient domestic supply of high-skill labor, and making more foreign workers available for domestic work of this kind would, with appropriate controls, produce a public benefit", if that is really the case, is to design a system with appropriate controls that does that, which probably won't look much like the H-1B program. It'll start with an analysis of the real nature and extent of the shortage, and the nature of the opportunity for public benefit.