7 ms·

In Slovenia an engineer with 10 years of experience makes $24,000/year. In Silicon Valley an engineer with 0.5 years of experience makes $100,000/year. Gee, I

by Swizec 10y ago

In Slovenia an engineer with 10 years of experience makes $24,000/year. In Silicon Valley an engineer with 0.5 years of experience makes $100,000/year. Gee, I wonder why businesses want to employ foreigners and why foreigners want to work for US companies. Hmmmmm

ganeshkrishnan 10y ago
Exactly. Running a business is nightmare. Sometimes I wished I was in the 9-5 daily grind. Top that with asking to pay more than market rates and most startups would collapse. 44% of unicorn startups in Silicon Valley employ H1b or were started by them. And a lot of them Iran too(which was strangely banned by Trump)
- 79d697i6fdif 10y ago
  The Iran thing is too bad. Besides our governments not getting along, it's possibly the most advanced, moderate, and educated Muslim majority country in the middle east. Maybe second to Turkey, but Iran seems to have a lot more engineers. I've known a few Iranian engineers and both of them were excellent. They didn't talk about politics either, the ones that come over here at least obviously don't have anything against the US.
  - happy-go-lucky 10y ago
    I'm under the impression that people coming for work or business wouldn't have anything against the US.
  - guitarbill 10y ago
    Honestly, both Khomeini and Ahmadinejad did quite well in convincing many countries that Iran isn't so "moderate". And violating the Vienna Convention/embassy extraterritoriality is rarely good for diplomatic relations. There were also U.N. sanctions in place until roughly a year ago. So downplaying it as "not getting along" is a bit of an understatement. But I'm also hopeful relations will improve in the future.
- ascendingPig 10y ago
  How big were these unicorns before they started employing h1bs? I wouldn't count this visa as a big win for startups, because most startups can't afford to enter the lottery, even if they're going to be profitable in the future.
- sheepmullet 10y ago
  > 44% of unicorn startups in Silicon Valley employ H1b or were started by them. And a lot of bright and hardworking people are losing out on visas so that large chop shops can make better profits
- HeroOfAges 10y ago
  Are you referring to unicorn startups funded with venture capital money? Most of those companies don't have to worry about being profitable in the near short term (<2 years). Snap Inc. raised $2.5 billion dollars or so and has around 300 employees. I'm having a hard time believing a company that raised over $2 billion dollars, has 300 employees and doesn't have to worry about turning a profit will run out of business if they paid their software developers market rates.
ardy123 10y ago
If you were to replace the higher paid positions with lower paid outsourced positions the allure of Silicon Valley would be lost entirely to me. The talent would simply move elsewhere. I don't understand why you're favouring a race to the bottom in terms of salary in terms of benefits to a business. It makes our talent go elsewhere.
- Swizec 10y ago
  I'm not favoring a race to the bottom but I understand the allure of getting better talent for cheaper. And the allure of getting pay more than you currently are getting. Sure cost of living in SV is higher, but saving 5% of 100k is a lot more $$$ than 15% of 24k. And you're exposes to better opportunities.
  - ardy123 10y ago
    That's the thing though, the h1b aren't getting 5% of 100k, they're getting 5% of 60k and bringing down the demand for locals. Unless these people are worth the money, then businesses should be expected to pay the money. So in short if they plan to raise number of h1b visas, the salary minimum should be significantly and from my understanding it already has.
- witty_username 10y ago
  What is wrong with a race to the bottom? Less salary means more profit for businesses and/or cheaper products
  - GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago
    I sell my labor in exchange for money, and so it's in my interest for wages to be as high as possible, if not higher.
    - witty_username 10y ago
      Sure, it's in your interest for your wages to be as high as possible, but does this maximize overall welfare? By banning competition, the H-1B person's wage and the employer's profits go down and the product price increases. How much depends on the relative elasticities. Isn't this richer people banning much poorer people (immigrants) from competing with them?
mootothemax 10y ago
>In Slovenia an engineer with 10 years of experience makes $24,000/year. >In Silicon Valley an engineer with 0.5 years of experience makes $100,000/year. Come on, you've got to compare like with like. In Montana, the median is ~$60,000, and in Georgia ~$80,000. [0] and [1] Here in Poland, I can find decent enough programmers who'll accept $2k/month salary. Their English will be poor, and typically they'll be based in the middle of nowhere. If I want to hire someone good in the capital city, Warsaw, I'll need to look at paying a minimum of $4-$5,000/month -> ~$50 - ~$60,000/year. (I've no idea what it costs to live in Montana; I'd hazard a guess that combined with a (freelancer's) 19% flat tax rate + $300/mo social security, your savings will grow faster here than there) One other area of confusion can be salaries quoted before and after tax. I know it's common to use after tax figures in Poland, and I'm not sure if your $24k is after tax; the figures you read about jobs in the US are definitely before tax. [0] https://www.sokanu.com/careers/computer-programmer/salary/Montana/ https://www.sokanu.com/careers/computer-programmer/salary/Mo... [1] https://www.sokanu.com/careers/computer-programmer/salary/Georgia/ https://www.sokanu.com/careers/computer-programmer/salary/Ge...
- Swizec 10y ago
  Looked it up yesterday. Average engineer salary in capital of Slovenia is 2000/month. Caveat is that everybody who's good is a self emplpyed freelancer working for US companies. So statistics don't capture them. I'd wager the average for those is around 5000/month. Freelancer flat rate tax in slovenia is 4% if you make under 100k. That part is nice but makes all my friends unambitious. Always found that part unfortunate.
  - mootothemax 10y ago
    > Looked it up yesterday. Average engineer salary in capital of Slovenia is 2000/month. Yeah, and it's difficult to know who reports stuff accurately, whether that takes into account people living in backwaters vs. fancy offices in Ljubljana etc. etc. etc. For what it's worth, some Slovenians seem to be reporting healthy salaries here, although as you say, there's a good number of self employed there (and workers in Ljubljana definitely affect the average... or the other way around, you know what I mean): http://www.averagesalarysurvey.com/slovenia http://www.averagesalarysurvey.com/slovenia
expertentipp 10y ago
The IT salaries in post-Communist EU countries is like getting spat in the face.
- distances 10y ago
  Surely applies to all salaries in the countries, though?
  - expertentipp 10y ago
    For remaining salaries it's even more humiliating.
heeen 10y ago
H1B applicants have to be paid prevailing wage, I wonder where the notion of cheap h1b workers comes from.
- manarth 10y ago
  H1B applicants have to be paid prevailing wage In theory, yes. In practice, research has shown otherwise: http://www.workpermit.com/news/research-finds-us-h1b-visa-holders-paid-less-20051026 http://www.workpermit.com/news/research-finds-us-h1b-visa-ho...
  - heeen 10y ago
    Interesting. That does not reflect what I have seen at my company.
- briandear 10y ago
  "We can find an American for this job!" What salary are you offering? "$60k, that's the prevailing wage." Then there must be a shortage, here's your H1. If that "prevailing wage" were $100k, there wouldn't be a shortage.
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  Prevailing wages for the job title they are hired for. What they do is classify them as "junior programmer" and have them replace a senior programmer.

by Swizec 10y ago

ganeshkrishnan 10y ago

Exactly. Running a business is nightmare. Sometimes I wished I was in the 9-5 daily grind. Top that with asking to pay more than market rates and most startups would collapse. 44% of unicorn startups in Silicon Valley employ H1b or were started by them. And a lot of them Iran too(which was strangely banned by Trump)

79d697i6fdif 10y ago
The Iran thing is too bad. Besides our governments not getting along, it's possibly the most advanced, moderate, and educated Muslim majority country in the middle east. Maybe second to Turkey, but Iran seems to have a lot more engineers. I've known a few Iranian engineers and both of them were excellent. They didn't talk about politics either, the ones that come over here at least obviously don't have anything against the US.
- happy-go-lucky 10y ago
  I'm under the impression that people coming for work or business wouldn't have anything against the US.
- guitarbill 10y ago
  Honestly, both Khomeini and Ahmadinejad did quite well in convincing many countries that Iran isn't so "moderate". And violating the Vienna Convention/embassy extraterritoriality is rarely good for diplomatic relations. There were also U.N. sanctions in place until roughly a year ago. So downplaying it as "not getting along" is a bit of an understatement. But I'm also hopeful relations will improve in the future.
ascendingPig 10y ago
How big were these unicorns before they started employing h1bs? I wouldn't count this visa as a big win for startups, because most startups can't afford to enter the lottery, even if they're going to be profitable in the future.
sheepmullet 10y ago
> 44% of unicorn startups in Silicon Valley employ H1b or were started by them. And a lot of bright and hardworking people are losing out on visas so that large chop shops can make better profits
HeroOfAges 10y ago
Are you referring to unicorn startups funded with venture capital money? Most of those companies don't have to worry about being profitable in the near short term (<2 years). Snap Inc. raised $2.5 billion dollars or so and has around 300 employees. I'm having a hard time believing a company that raised over $2 billion dollars, has 300 employees and doesn't have to worry about turning a profit will run out of business if they paid their software developers market rates.

ardy123 10y ago

If you were to replace the higher paid positions with lower paid outsourced positions the allure of Silicon Valley would be lost entirely to me. The talent would simply move elsewhere. I don't understand why you're favouring a race to the bottom in terms of salary in terms of benefits to a business. It makes our talent go elsewhere.

Swizec 10y ago
I'm not favoring a race to the bottom but I understand the allure of getting better talent for cheaper. And the allure of getting pay more than you currently are getting. Sure cost of living in SV is higher, but saving 5% of 100k is a lot more $$$ than 15% of 24k. And you're exposes to better opportunities.
- ardy123 10y ago
  That's the thing though, the h1b aren't getting 5% of 100k, they're getting 5% of 60k and bringing down the demand for locals. Unless these people are worth the money, then businesses should be expected to pay the money. So in short if they plan to raise number of h1b visas, the salary minimum should be significantly and from my understanding it already has.
witty_username 10y ago
What is wrong with a race to the bottom? Less salary means more profit for businesses and/or cheaper products
- GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago
  I sell my labor in exchange for money, and so it's in my interest for wages to be as high as possible, if not higher.
  - witty_username 10y ago
    Sure, it's in your interest for your wages to be as high as possible, but does this maximize overall welfare? By banning competition, the H-1B person's wage and the employer's profits go down and the product price increases. How much depends on the relative elasticities. Isn't this richer people banning much poorer people (immigrants) from competing with them?

mootothemax 10y ago

>In Slovenia an engineer with 10 years of experience makes $24,000/year. >In Silicon Valley an engineer with 0.5 years of experience makes $100,000/year. Come on, you've got to compare like with like. In Montana, the median is ~$60,000, and in Georgia ~$80,000. [0] and [1] Here in Poland, I can find decent enough programmers who'll accept $2k/month salary. Their English will be poor, and typically they'll be based in the middle of nowhere. If I want to hire someone good in the capital city, Warsaw, I'll need to look at paying a minimum of $4-$5,000/month -> ~$50 - ~$60,000/year. (I've no idea what it costs to live in Montana; I'd hazard a guess that combined with a (freelancer's) 19% flat tax rate + $300/mo social security, your savings will grow faster here than there) One other area of confusion can be salaries quoted before and after tax. I know it's common to use after tax figures in Poland, and I'm not sure if your $24k is after tax; the figures you read about jobs in the US are definitely before tax. [0] https://www.sokanu.com/careers/computer-programmer/salary/Montana/ https://www.sokanu.com/careers/computer-programmer/salary/Mo... [1] https://www.sokanu.com/careers/computer-programmer/salary/Georgia/ https://www.sokanu.com/careers/computer-programmer/salary/Ge...

Swizec 10y ago
Looked it up yesterday. Average engineer salary in capital of Slovenia is 2000/month. Caveat is that everybody who's good is a self emplpyed freelancer working for US companies. So statistics don't capture them. I'd wager the average for those is around 5000/month. Freelancer flat rate tax in slovenia is 4% if you make under 100k. That part is nice but makes all my friends unambitious. Always found that part unfortunate.
- mootothemax 10y ago
  > Looked it up yesterday. Average engineer salary in capital of Slovenia is 2000/month. Yeah, and it's difficult to know who reports stuff accurately, whether that takes into account people living in backwaters vs. fancy offices in Ljubljana etc. etc. etc. For what it's worth, some Slovenians seem to be reporting healthy salaries here, although as you say, there's a good number of self employed there (and workers in Ljubljana definitely affect the average... or the other way around, you know what I mean): http://www.averagesalarysurvey.com/slovenia http://www.averagesalarysurvey.com/slovenia

expertentipp 10y ago

The IT salaries in post-Communist EU countries is like getting spat in the face.

distances 10y ago
Surely applies to all salaries in the countries, though?
- expertentipp 10y ago
  For remaining salaries it's even more humiliating.

heeen 10y ago

H1B applicants have to be paid prevailing wage, I wonder where the notion of cheap h1b workers comes from.

manarth 10y ago
H1B applicants have to be paid prevailing wage In theory, yes. In practice, research has shown otherwise: http://www.workpermit.com/news/research-finds-us-h1b-visa-holders-paid-less-20051026 http://www.workpermit.com/news/research-finds-us-h1b-visa-ho...
- heeen 10y ago
  Interesting. That does not reflect what I have seen at my company.
briandear 10y ago
"We can find an American for this job!" What salary are you offering? "$60k, that's the prevailing wage." Then there must be a shortage, here's your H1. If that "prevailing wage" were $100k, there wouldn't be a shortage.
cmdrfred 10y ago
Prevailing wages for the job title they are hired for. What they do is classify them as "junior programmer" and have them replace a senior programmer.