3 ms·

Twitter and Other Tech Layoffs Raise H-1B Visa Employment Issues

43 points by rawgabbit 4y ago

MisterSandman 4y ago
It isn't "more complicated", it's downright dystopian, at least if you're from India/China. Some of the smartest students in my high school went to attend top universities in the US and continued to perform brilliantly - yet, I'd still find many of them begging for any job within 60 days lest they have to leave the country and destroy everything they've worked for for virtually their entire adult life. It degrades people of their professional worth and has pretty much turned the entire US professional immigration system into a game. The fact that people still go for it proves that I'm wrong, that it perhaps isn't as dystopian, or that people just aren't as aware of the true reality of the situation.
- tsycho 4y ago
  You are not wrong. It is dehumanizing (for Indians in particular), and downright dystopian for some. However, people still go for it because they have significantly better career and financial prospects taking a tech job on a H1 in the US, in comparison to their home countries. It's a positive expected value bet, even if xx% of people end up with a negative outcome. Further, many people aren't aware of the negative outcomes or come from rich families who can withstand it. While others hope that even if they don't get the H1, they can at least land a good job with a neutral outcome back in their home country or in Canada/UK.
geebee 4y ago
The problems with employer controlled work visas are so apparent, and have been apparent for so long, that I believe these issues really are a feature rather than a bug. Keep in mind, the people and companies that lobbied hard for this program are the same ones that orchestrated a massive and clearly illegal collusion to suppress wages. I think they've gotten away with it for this long because they have an exceptional tool in their arsenal - calling anyone who opposes employer controlled visas "anti-immigration". Even PG got in a few digs[1]. They get an assist from genuinely anti-immigrant people, whose opinions they present as the only argument, and they succeed in making people with reasonable objections to employer-controlled immigration spend the rest of the talk show disassociating themselves from this allegation. At this point, I'm convinced that part of the reason we don't have a skilled immigration that preserves the freedom of mobility of the immigrants themselves is that high tech companies and investors don't want immigrants to have this freedom. They like it that an immigrant's right to reside in the US depends on staying in the good graces of their employer. They like it that a founder's right to live in the US depends on the blessing of a venture capitalist. Employers and investors don't want their power to end at offering a job or money, they want more power over people than this. They keep things this way because it gives them a tremendous amount of power over their workforce. [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/95.html http://www.paulgraham.com/95.html

43 points by rawgabbit 4y ago

It isn't "more complicated", it's downright dystopian, at least if you're from India/China. Some of the smartest students in my high school went to attend top universities in the US and continued to perform brilliantly - yet, I'd still find many of them begging for any job within 60 days lest they have to leave the country and destroy everything they've worked for for virtually their entire adult life. It degrades people of their professional worth and has pretty much turned the entire US professional immigration system into a game. The fact that people still go for it proves that I'm wrong, that it perhaps isn't as dystopian, or that people just aren't as aware of the true reality of the situation.

tsycho 4y ago
You are not wrong. It is dehumanizing (for Indians in particular), and downright dystopian for some. However, people still go for it because they have significantly better career and financial prospects taking a tech job on a H1 in the US, in comparison to their home countries. It's a positive expected value bet, even if xx% of people end up with a negative outcome. Further, many people aren't aware of the negative outcomes or come from rich families who can withstand it. While others hope that even if they don't get the H1, they can at least land a good job with a neutral outcome back in their home country or in Canada/UK.

geebee 4y ago

The problems with employer controlled work visas are so apparent, and have been apparent for so long, that I believe these issues really are a feature rather than a bug. Keep in mind, the people and companies that lobbied hard for this program are the same ones that orchestrated a massive and clearly illegal collusion to suppress wages. I think they've gotten away with it for this long because they have an exceptional tool in their arsenal - calling anyone who opposes employer controlled visas "anti-immigration". Even PG got in a few digs[1]. They get an assist from genuinely anti-immigrant people, whose opinions they present as the only argument, and they succeed in making people with reasonable objections to employer-controlled immigration spend the rest of the talk show disassociating themselves from this allegation. At this point, I'm convinced that part of the reason we don't have a skilled immigration that preserves the freedom of mobility of the immigrants themselves is that high tech companies and investors don't want immigrants to have this freedom. They like it that an immigrant's right to reside in the US depends on staying in the good graces of their employer. They like it that a founder's right to live in the US depends on the blessing of a venture capitalist. Employers and investors don't want their power to end at offering a job or money, they want more power over people than this. They keep things this way because it gives them a tremendous amount of power over their workforce. [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/95.html http://www.paulgraham.com/95.html