3 ms·

To people complaining about H1Bs, one thing to consider is that if importing workers is no longer an option, employers may think about remote work or offshoring

To people complaining about H1Bs, one thing to consider is that if importing workers is no longer an option, employers may think about remote work or offshoring, transferring jobs out of the country entirely.

commandlinefan 5y ago
They've been "thinking" about that for at least 25 years now.
- IdiocyInAction 5y ago
  They've also been doing it. There's tons of outsourcing companies in Europe and Asia. Many bigger companies have offices in those countries as well.
  - distrill 5y ago
    It is still very tough to outsource software development. Because of the nature of these sort of contractual arrangements, you end up moving the challenge from the implementation to the design spec and acceptance criteria. In a more traditional software org, the implementer does a lot of this work, but this doesn't really happen with outsource contracts in my experience.
    - ak217 5y ago
      Offshore contract shops have a very poor track record in my experience. By contrast, what I have seen work very well is when a company hires an H1B worker, invests in their professional development, promotes them to some sort of manager, then that person goes back to their home country and establishes a unit of the company there, hires a team and leads it. I know multiple large companies that ended up having this be a key part of their strategy.
    - commandlinefan 5y ago
      > It is still very tough to outsource software development. That's what I was getting at. If it was feasible, it would have been done completely by now.
- mylons 5y ago
  and they often do it! at my first job (ultimately owned by ThermoFischer now) in 2008 there was quite a bit of development done at consultancies in India, and in house.
axaxs 5y ago
I see your point, but companies have been offshoring since I've been working at least, probably longer. Seems to go in waves for some reason.
xwdv 5y ago
Let them. Importing an H1B is worse than simply throwing out a job for remote work to anyone who wants it.
- IdiocyInAction 5y ago
  How? Importing the H1B means that the skills and IP and other related stuff stays in the country.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
ex_amazon_sde 5y ago
> transferring jobs out of the country entirely Or IN the country, depending on where the place-of-birth lottery put you.

commandlinefan 5y ago

They've been "thinking" about that for at least 25 years now.

IdiocyInAction 5y ago
They've also been doing it. There's tons of outsourcing companies in Europe and Asia. Many bigger companies have offices in those countries as well.
- distrill 5y ago
  It is still very tough to outsource software development. Because of the nature of these sort of contractual arrangements, you end up moving the challenge from the implementation to the design spec and acceptance criteria. In a more traditional software org, the implementer does a lot of this work, but this doesn't really happen with outsource contracts in my experience.
  - ak217 5y ago
    Offshore contract shops have a very poor track record in my experience. By contrast, what I have seen work very well is when a company hires an H1B worker, invests in their professional development, promotes them to some sort of manager, then that person goes back to their home country and establishes a unit of the company there, hires a team and leads it. I know multiple large companies that ended up having this be a key part of their strategy.
  - commandlinefan 5y ago
    > It is still very tough to outsource software development. That's what I was getting at. If it was feasible, it would have been done completely by now.
mylons 5y ago
and they often do it! at my first job (ultimately owned by ThermoFischer now) in 2008 there was quite a bit of development done at consultancies in India, and in house.

axaxs 5y ago

I see your point, but companies have been offshoring since I've been working at least, probably longer. Seems to go in waves for some reason.

xwdv 5y ago

Let them. Importing an H1B is worse than simply throwing out a job for remote work to anyone who wants it.

IdiocyInAction 5y ago
How? Importing the H1B means that the skills and IP and other related stuff stays in the country.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

ex_amazon_sde 5y ago

> transferring jobs out of the country entirely Or IN the country, depending on where the place-of-birth lottery put you.