8 ms·

> exploitation plan only works as long that labor can't walk That's not true. If H1-Bs were not a good deal for the guest workers, there wouldn't be a 10 year

> exploitation plan only works as long that labor can't walk That's not true. If H1-Bs were not a good deal for the guest workers, there wouldn't be a 10 year waiting list to get one. Living standards are so much higher in the United States due to massive infrastructure investments than in the countries most of these guest workers come from that accepting a lower wage than an American would otherwise earn is still a once in a lifetime opportunity for them. The workers being exploited by wage depression here are the American ones, and that's not even addressing the infrastructure costs of a growing population which is distributed evenly instead of being born solely by those incurring the cost. > Companies also have to do prevailing wage checks, which often results in pay increases. How? In my experience H1Bs always make less because they are taking a hit in pay in order to benefit from the public services they wouldn't get in their home country.

MathMonkeyMan 4y ago
Exploitation is exploitation even if it affords better opportunities than taking a pass. That said, I don't know any of the subtle points of the visa system.
ec109685 4y ago
Companies also have to do prevailing wage checks, which often results in pay increases.
- geraldwhen 4y ago
  Supply lowers price. H1bs lower the pay of software developers in the USA, full stop.
jmpman 4y ago
There’s too much money being left on the table. The government should be levying a hefty tax on every H1B, like $20k/year. That tax should then be used to fund merit based scholarships for US Citizens pursing a degree in the field of the H1B. If the argument is that we don’t have the skills in the US, then let’s use the H1B program to create those skills.
amf12 4y ago
> That's not true. If H1-Bs were not a good deal for the guest workers, there wouldn't be a 10 year waiting list to get one How about this: If below minimum wage illegal work wasn't a good deal for guest workers, there wouldn't be illegal immigration to the US. This doesn't mean its not exploitation, although not every H1B is being exploited. > The workers being exploited by wage depression here are the American ones 85K new H1B's a year aren't enough to depress wages when the population of the US is 300M+. Especially when there is record demand across industries. Look at tech, every company wants to hire more and is competing with high salaries. > and that's not even addressing the infrastructure costs of a growing population which is distributed evenly instead of being born solely by those incurring the cost. I don't understand this point. Isn't every citizen benefiting from the improved, expanded infrastructure? Legal immigrants like H1Bs pay the same taxes as any citizen or a permanent resident.
- paulgb 4y ago
  > Legal immigrants like H1Bs pay the same taxes as any citizen or a permanent resident. Moreover, primary H-1B holders are basically by definition selected to be the subset of the population that poses a negative burden on society. They have a steady job (if they lose it they get deported); they have health and criminal background checks; they are college-educated. Some other country took the burden of educating them and took on the risk that they’d turn out to be a deadbeat, and the US receives them as a taxpaying adult. (Full disclosure, I was an H-1B holder.)
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - pyuser583 4y ago
    I wasn’t aware an H1-B holder was subject to deportation as soon as they lost their job. I thought losing your job created a weird legal grey area, where you were allowed to stay in the country and look for work, but couldn’t reenter if you left.
    - samspenc 4y ago
yes_really 4y ago
> That's not true. If H1-Bs were not a good deal for the guest workers, there wouldn't be a 10 year waiting list to get one. Are you confusing H1-B with the Green Card queue? I'm not aware of any queue for H1-B - just the annual lottery.
nunez 4y ago
Precisely. Getting into a job that accepts H1-B's seemed like big business in India when I was there. Saw ads for it and everything. Not surprising; even a low-end H1-B wage is many multiples over what you'd get for the same job in India, and the living conditions are way better.

MathMonkeyMan 4y ago

Exploitation is exploitation even if it affords better opportunities than taking a pass. That said, I don't know any of the subtle points of the visa system.

ec109685 4y ago

Companies also have to do prevailing wage checks, which often results in pay increases.

geraldwhen 4y ago
Supply lowers price. H1bs lower the pay of software developers in the USA, full stop.

jmpman 4y ago

There’s too much money being left on the table. The government should be levying a hefty tax on every H1B, like $20k/year. That tax should then be used to fund merit based scholarships for US Citizens pursing a degree in the field of the H1B. If the argument is that we don’t have the skills in the US, then let’s use the H1B program to create those skills.

amf12 4y ago

> That's not true. If H1-Bs were not a good deal for the guest workers, there wouldn't be a 10 year waiting list to get one How about this: If below minimum wage illegal work wasn't a good deal for guest workers, there wouldn't be illegal immigration to the US. This doesn't mean its not exploitation, although not every H1B is being exploited. > The workers being exploited by wage depression here are the American ones 85K new H1B's a year aren't enough to depress wages when the population of the US is 300M+. Especially when there is record demand across industries. Look at tech, every company wants to hire more and is competing with high salaries. > and that's not even addressing the infrastructure costs of a growing population which is distributed evenly instead of being born solely by those incurring the cost. I don't understand this point. Isn't every citizen benefiting from the improved, expanded infrastructure? Legal immigrants like H1Bs pay the same taxes as any citizen or a permanent resident.

paulgb 4y ago
> Legal immigrants like H1Bs pay the same taxes as any citizen or a permanent resident. Moreover, primary H-1B holders are basically by definition selected to be the subset of the population that poses a negative burden on society. They have a steady job (if they lose it they get deported); they have health and criminal background checks; they are college-educated. Some other country took the burden of educating them and took on the risk that they’d turn out to be a deadbeat, and the US receives them as a taxpaying adult. (Full disclosure, I was an H-1B holder.)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- pyuser583 4y ago
  I wasn’t aware an H1-B holder was subject to deportation as soon as they lost their job. I thought losing your job created a weird legal grey area, where you were allowed to stay in the country and look for work, but couldn’t reenter if you left.
  - samspenc 4y ago

yes_really 4y ago

> That's not true. If H1-Bs were not a good deal for the guest workers, there wouldn't be a 10 year waiting list to get one. Are you confusing H1-B with the Green Card queue? I'm not aware of any queue for H1-B - just the annual lottery.

nunez 4y ago

Precisely. Getting into a job that accepts H1-B's seemed like big business in India when I was there. Saw ads for it and everything. Not surprising; even a low-end H1-B wage is many multiples over what you'd get for the same job in India, and the living conditions are way better.