2 ms·

The median salary of an H1-B is $80,000. How is this even a debate as to the purpose of an H1-B? It is literally to increase supply of talent for the purpose o

The median salary of an H1-B is $80,000. How is this even a debate as to the purpose of an H1-B? It is literally to increase supply of talent for the purpose of reducing labor cost.

esoterica 7y ago
If immigrants depress wages then why is the Bay Area the best paying tech city in the entire world by a very large margin? There are a lot of immigrants there, are there not? You would expect an isolationist dictatorship like North Korea to have the best wages. The H-1B program represents almost the entirety of the American skilled immigration program. To ask what the H1-B program is for is to ask what skilled immigration is for. And skilled immigration is necessary for any company to become world beaters. Why do all the top European soccer teams have so many foreign players? Do you think it’s because they are too cheap to hire locals? You can’t conquer the world the way the valley has by tapping only 5% of the talent pool. Of course the program has many flaws (such as restricting the ability for immigrants to change jobs), but more protectionism and bigotry is not the answer to these flaws.
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > If immigrants depress wages then why is the Bay Area the best paying tech city in the entire world by a very large margin? Because of the factors that make it favorable to high-tech industry. > There are a lot of immigrants there, are there not? Yes, many of them brought in specifically to mitigate upward wage pressure. > You would expect an isolationist dictatorship like North Korea to have the best wages. No, you wouldn't; you are confusing a ceteris paribus effect with a sole driver effect.
  - esoterica 7y ago
    > Because of the factors that make it favorable to high-tech industry. The main factor is the extremely high concentration of the best tech talent in the world, many of whom are immigrants. What else do you think is special about Mountain View and Menlo Park? The strip malls and shitty public transit?

The median salary of an H1-B is $80,000. How is this even a debate as to the purpose of an H1-B? It is literally to increase supply of talent for the purpose of reducing labor cost.

esoterica 7y ago

If immigrants depress wages then why is the Bay Area the best paying tech city in the entire world by a very large margin? There are a lot of immigrants there, are there not? You would expect an isolationist dictatorship like North Korea to have the best wages. The H-1B program represents almost the entirety of the American skilled immigration program. To ask what the H1-B program is for is to ask what skilled immigration is for. And skilled immigration is necessary for any company to become world beaters. Why do all the top European soccer teams have so many foreign players? Do you think it’s because they are too cheap to hire locals? You can’t conquer the world the way the valley has by tapping only 5% of the talent pool. Of course the program has many flaws (such as restricting the ability for immigrants to change jobs), but more protectionism and bigotry is not the answer to these flaws.

dragonwriter 7y ago
> If immigrants depress wages then why is the Bay Area the best paying tech city in the entire world by a very large margin? Because of the factors that make it favorable to high-tech industry. > There are a lot of immigrants there, are there not? Yes, many of them brought in specifically to mitigate upward wage pressure. > You would expect an isolationist dictatorship like North Korea to have the best wages. No, you wouldn't; you are confusing a ceteris paribus effect with a sole driver effect.
- esoterica 7y ago
  > Because of the factors that make it favorable to high-tech industry. The main factor is the extremely high concentration of the best tech talent in the world, many of whom are immigrants. What else do you think is special about Mountain View and Menlo Park? The strip malls and shitty public transit?