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Wild idea: Remove all caps completely. Instead, require a US$1M annual fee. That way, companies can get all of the workers that they are in dire need of, but

Wild idea: Remove all caps completely. Instead, require a US$1M annual fee. That way, companies can get all of the workers that they are in dire need of, but demonstrably without the possibility of undercutting local labor.

belltaco 7y ago
A move like that will actually undercut labor much more, and not just tech labor. It will cause huge outsourcing to Canada(which is already happening to some extent) and to places on the other side of the world. Given that 100 IT jobs create about 30 non-IT jobs supporting them, it's going to hurt the local economy. Once entire teams are built in other countries, companies would prefer hiring new workers there just to keep communication overhead low, forget about the lower cost.
- downerending 7y ago
  Perhaps so. It does seem like a fast track "all you can eat and right away" feature would be a draw, even for the steep fee, but maybe on balance it wouldn't be enough. Maybe toss in permanent residence after five years, or something like that. FWIW, the H-1Bs I've worked with have been good people and as competent as locals. I worry some about them being abused by their employers, but that's their trade-off to manage. I have noticed, though, over the years that demand for my skills has lessened noticeably. Thanks for your answer.
  - pandaman 7y ago
    If you are willing to spend 1M a year and think permanent residence is a draw then you can just go with the EB1 GC and it will cost much less.
- pandaman 7y ago
  All outsourcing that could have happened has already happened. No matter what people say about H1Bs undercutting salaries they are still paid much more than equivalent employees overseas. Why wait for visas to become scarce to move the business overseas and save tons of money? It was huge in the late 90s-early 2000s and partly explains the current situation with the lack of programmers since everybody told their kids that software engineering jobs will all be gone by the time the graduate with their, then useless, CS degree. It appears the efficacy of outsourcing had been overestimated a bit and many jobs had been "re-shored" since then. And yes, there is still substantial outsourcing business I just don't see how it can expand any more.

belltaco 7y ago

A move like that will actually undercut labor much more, and not just tech labor. It will cause huge outsourcing to Canada(which is already happening to some extent) and to places on the other side of the world. Given that 100 IT jobs create about 30 non-IT jobs supporting them, it's going to hurt the local economy. Once entire teams are built in other countries, companies would prefer hiring new workers there just to keep communication overhead low, forget about the lower cost.

downerending 7y ago
Perhaps so. It does seem like a fast track "all you can eat and right away" feature would be a draw, even for the steep fee, but maybe on balance it wouldn't be enough. Maybe toss in permanent residence after five years, or something like that. FWIW, the H-1Bs I've worked with have been good people and as competent as locals. I worry some about them being abused by their employers, but that's their trade-off to manage. I have noticed, though, over the years that demand for my skills has lessened noticeably. Thanks for your answer.
- pandaman 7y ago
  If you are willing to spend 1M a year and think permanent residence is a draw then you can just go with the EB1 GC and it will cost much less.
pandaman 7y ago
All outsourcing that could have happened has already happened. No matter what people say about H1Bs undercutting salaries they are still paid much more than equivalent employees overseas. Why wait for visas to become scarce to move the business overseas and save tons of money? It was huge in the late 90s-early 2000s and partly explains the current situation with the lack of programmers since everybody told their kids that software engineering jobs will all be gone by the time the graduate with their, then useless, CS degree. It appears the efficacy of outsourcing had been overestimated a bit and many jobs had been "re-shored" since then. And yes, there is still substantial outsourcing business I just don't see how it can expand any more.