3 ms·

Loopholes aside, what possible motivation could an employer have for bringing in an H1B than lower cost? The H1B worker is beholden to the employer and the incr

Loopholes aside, what possible motivation could an employer have for bringing in an H1B than lower cost? The H1B worker is beholden to the employer and the increased supply of labor would necessarily decrease scarcity of that skill.

amf12 6y ago
> what possible motivation could an employer have for bringing in an H1B than lower cost Skills for one. The way H1B was really meant to be used. I am not arguing TVA did this. But there ARE reasons to hire H1B workers other than cost. Case in point Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.
- zaroth 6y ago
  This is exactly the stated purpose--and indeed the legal requirement--of H1B visas, to gain access to uniquely skilled workers that are not available through the local workforce. It's supposed to be an essentially merit-based path to immigration, and if true, that would make it exactly the kind of program that Trump should 100% support. To the extent that H1B accomplishes this objective of highly skilled labor at prevailing market wages, I think it's a useful program that has a place in the overall immigration system. From a macroeconomic view, even when limited to bringing in skilled labor to fulfill a specific market shortage, this will still depress the prevailing wage in that market, which theoretically prevents the market from correcting when rising wages induce increased local supply. Fundamentally something is broken with the wage market when real wages have not grown in decades. Partially this is a problem with the measurement not correctly accounting for significantly increased cost of [healthcare] benefits covered by the employer share. But I believe even when accounting for the full employer-side cost of wages, this number has not grown as expected, and low-wage work visas are part of the problem.

3 ms·

Loopholes aside, what possible motivation could an employer have for bringing in an H1B than lower cost? The H1B worker is beholden to the employer and the incr

by phnofive 6y ago

amf12 6y ago
> what possible motivation could an employer have for bringing in an H1B than lower cost Skills for one. The way H1B was really meant to be used. I am not arguing TVA did this. But there ARE reasons to hire H1B workers other than cost. Case in point Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.
- zaroth 6y ago
  This is exactly the stated purpose--and indeed the legal requirement--of H1B visas, to gain access to uniquely skilled workers that are not available through the local workforce. It's supposed to be an essentially merit-based path to immigration, and if true, that would make it exactly the kind of program that Trump should 100% support. To the extent that H1B accomplishes this objective of highly skilled labor at prevailing market wages, I think it's a useful program that has a place in the overall immigration system. From a macroeconomic view, even when limited to bringing in skilled labor to fulfill a specific market shortage, this will still depress the prevailing wage in that market, which theoretically prevents the market from correcting when rising wages induce increased local supply. Fundamentally something is broken with the wage market when real wages have not grown in decades. Partially this is a problem with the measurement not correctly accounting for significantly increased cost of [healthcare] benefits covered by the employer share. But I believe even when accounting for the full employer-side cost of wages, this number has not grown as expected, and low-wage work visas are part of the problem.