5 ms·

It's harder for them to switch jobs, and depending on where they are in the process of applying for a green card, they may have to restart if they do switch. T

It's harder for them to switch jobs, and depending on where they are in the process of applying for a green card, they may have to restart if they do switch. That kind of "loyalty" is easily worth 20k-30k for a lot of companies.

refurb 8y ago
But they can always go home, there is nothing to stop that. So I would argue the loyalty they buy isn’t worth much.
- learc83 8y ago
  And take a massive pay cut? Even among rich countries and even for underpaid H-1B workers, tech salaries are generally much higher in the US, and most of them don't come from rich countries. Clearly you can see there is a difference between what a company needs to do to keep an H-1B employee from leaving the country, and what they need to do to keep a permanent resident employee from switching jobs?
  - refurb 8y ago
    Sure, but I’m not sure I buy that companies hire H1-B’s because they are more loyal. They spend far more money and time upfront getting the person the visa and in the end there is nothing preventing them from either going home or tranfering to a similar role at another company.
    - learc83 8y ago
      >They spend far more money and time upfront getting the person the visa and in the end there is nothing preventing them from either going home or tranfering to a similar role at another company. So if there was a law that said they can't go home or change jobs, then you would accept that it might be worth it? But if that were the case there's still nothing preventing them from dying right? Hopefully from this example you can see that an employee who is much more likely to stay for x years, is more valuable despite the fact that they aren't guaranteed to stay for x years. If you could pay $30k extra for an employee that is 50% more likely to stick around for 5 years, most companies would jump at that chance.

5 ms·

It's harder for them to switch jobs, and depending on where they are in the process of applying for a green card, they may have to restart if they do switch. T

by learc83 8y ago

refurb 8y ago
But they can always go home, there is nothing to stop that. So I would argue the loyalty they buy isn’t worth much.
- learc83 8y ago
  And take a massive pay cut? Even among rich countries and even for underpaid H-1B workers, tech salaries are generally much higher in the US, and most of them don't come from rich countries. Clearly you can see there is a difference between what a company needs to do to keep an H-1B employee from leaving the country, and what they need to do to keep a permanent resident employee from switching jobs?
  - refurb 8y ago
    Sure, but I’m not sure I buy that companies hire H1-B’s because they are more loyal. They spend far more money and time upfront getting the person the visa and in the end there is nothing preventing them from either going home or tranfering to a similar role at another company.
    - learc83 8y ago
      >They spend far more money and time upfront getting the person the visa and in the end there is nothing preventing them from either going home or tranfering to a similar role at another company. So if there was a law that said they can't go home or change jobs, then you would accept that it might be worth it? But if that were the case there's still nothing preventing them from dying right? Hopefully from this example you can see that an employee who is much more likely to stay for x years, is more valuable despite the fact that they aren't guaranteed to stay for x years. If you could pay $30k extra for an employee that is 50% more likely to stick around for 5 years, most companies would jump at that chance.