8 ms·

Just hire people from Chile and Singapore using the much easier to get, and underutilized, H1B1.

by nico 4y ago

no_wizard 4y ago
or they could just hire people in the US, there's plenty of good US labor to go around. The point of these programs was to augment labor markets in times of shortage (H1B isn't just used by tech FWIW), IE, the internal US labor pool wasn't big enough to sustain hiring in the US for N job(s) due to requirements and you could demonstrate that some form of training would be sufficiently work in a timely manner Its been pretty clear this isn't really true for decades yet H1B hasn't been curtailed meaningfully to uphold its intended goals
- wbl 4y ago
  Why shouldn't the US attract highly skilled workers from abroad?
  - no_wizard 4y ago
    I distinctively didn't say the US shouldn't. I said the H1B program is not working as intended and pointed out its faltering its mission, and has been for decades. Whether we should have better immigration policies is a separate discussion, and I think we most definitely should. Path to citizenship would be for the best. It historically has worked out in the favor the nation, after all. The H1B program isn't this at all though
  - afavour 4y ago
    Not really the question here. The H1B visa is intended to specifically target industries with a shortage of workers. Even as someone who arrived in the country on an H1B myself I question whether software engineering is experiencing a shortage these days given the mass layoffs we’ve seen lately. Whether we should prioritize local workers over foreign (and whether we have enough local workers) is a much broader political question.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - hu3 4y ago
    It's natural and healthy for countries to prioritize hiring their own citizens. H1B has been abused to hire workers of similar skillset for a lower salary. And I say that as a non-US citizen, interested in H1B program.
  - bdcravens 4y ago
    They should. However, that's not the point of the H1B - it's designed to bridge gaps in domestic skills, not increase competition.
  - sethd 4y ago
    The H1B program might have started out as a way to attract highly skilled workers, and that might still happen in some cases today, but by and large it's not resulting in the US pulling in top talent and it is used as a way to suppress wages in the US across the board. We need immigration policies that allow highly skilled workers to come to the US with no strings attached so these workers have the same job mobility as US citizens and permanent residents. The H1B program today resembles something closer to indentured servitude. So yes, the US should attract highly skilled workers, but no, the H1B program is not working that way.
    - pl90087 4y ago
      My company struggles to find the right people. Many that we find we can't hire because the risk is too high that they won't make the lottery, so positions keep unfilled. This is a serious problem limiting our growth.
      - big_youth 4y ago
        Why not hire Americans? I went to a no name state school with a large CS class. Sure we're not MIT/Stanford quality (well many where) but plenty of talent to go around. Whether they want to work for your wages is the real issues.
        pl90087 4y ago
        > Why not hire Americans? If they pass the interview then we obviously gladly hire them. But competition is hard. We do have quite competitive wages. But we need more people than the American-only portion of the market has to offer. Competent foreigners make up a sizeable part of the applicants, and those who don't already have visa or green card we just can't hire. It's as simple as that.
        greenfield1 4y ago
        "Why not hire Americans?" in this context is like asking "Why not just vaccinate people?" in April 2020.
  - toomuchtodo 4y ago
    Nation state policy should be aggressively seeking and rolling the carpet out for exceptional talent, not cheap talent to depress internal wages. This is pretty standard policy across developed nations (as someone who has looked into skilled worker visas outside the US from within and is not exceptional talent).
  - sokoloff 4y ago
    We should. That's what the E1/E2 categories are for; H1B was designed to address labor shortages, not necessarily/specifically for attracting highly skilled workers.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - commandlinefan 4y ago
    > highly skilled I'm sure there are many H1B visa holders who are actually highly skilled in something that's actually nearly impossible to find anywhere else. I know from experience that a lot of H1B visa holders are about the same as what you can find domestically (but they're a lot less likely to agitate for better working conditions).
  - geraldwhen 4y ago
    Where are these candidates? I’ve only ever been given barely-entry level Junior h1bs I’ve been expected to train from 0. One person I was forced to work with legitimately did not understand how to connect to wifi or know when he was connected to wifi. He kept calling me saying his computer was broken.
  - stcroixx 4y ago
    Without limits, it would destroy the market for domestic workers.
- Swizec 4y ago
  I had to research this for my greencard a while back. Here’s a fun stat for ya: USA opens about 500,000 new software development positions per year. USA creates about 50,000 new comp sci graduates per year. There are an order of magnitude too few Americans every year for the jobs available. Whatever you think of the H1B (and it has many problems), I doubt it’s coming even close to bridging that gap. source with links to sources: https://swizec.com/blog/software-engineering-best-job/ https://swizec.com/blog/software-engineering-best-job/
  - smolder 4y ago
    You may have a point, but there at least a few degrees apart from Comp Sci that can lead to software development, nevermind mid-career direction changes and boot camps.
  - guessbest 4y ago
    Is the USA the only country which has 10x more positions than freshly graduated students? If so, then America is the only country in the world which adequately compensates software developers which would mean it is unusual for another country like India and China to even have software developers if they would be better employed in the United States. Maybe the point of computer science programs is to serve as future American immigrants.
    - toast0 4y ago
      > which would mean it is unusual for another country like India and China to even have software developers if they would be better employed in the United States. There's lots of reasons software developers in India and China would remain in India and China, but one big one is obtaining a visa and permanent residency to live and work in the US is hard in general, and more so for people in populous countries with many emigrants destined for the US; I think it's India, China, and Mexico that have the three longest queues for green cards where there's a limit per country of birth. There's certainly a path to immigration through a computer science degree. Especially advanced degrees, which give preferences to visa applications. If you can afford it, get a bachelor's in your country of origin, come to the US for a Masters, work on OPT visa after graduation, hope it converts to H1B, work on H1B until you get a green card, is a well worn path, but there are others.
- riku_iki 4y ago
  > or they could just hire people in the US, there's plenty of good US labor to go around. the business of those companies is to bring some person, pay him $50/h while charge client $300/h. Good US labor wouldn't agree to work for $50/h.
  - no_wizard 4y ago
    Then they should either setup an international arm abroad, which is perfectly legal[0] or raise your wages. If you can afford the overhead of the H1B system (there's a bunch of ongoing legal costs to doing this) then setting up an international arm of the company isn't that much different. The H1B program is not and its stated goal is not, to be able to undercut the US labor market with foreign labor [0]: though as someone in the labor market, it does have negative consequences on me potentially
    - riku_iki 4y ago
      > Then they should either setup an international arm abroad they sell h1b employees as US on-site consultants. > there's a bunch of ongoing legal costs to doing this several thousands USD as to my knowledge.
- SheinhardtWigCo 4y ago
  Exactly. H1B hires don't have the same freedom to look for another job, because a new employer has to hire a lawyer to transfer the H1B, and not many companies have the resources or are willing to do that. Even if a company offers market wages when hiring a H1B, it's arguably a better investment because they have far lower mobility. That isn't good for anyone except the big tech firms.
  - smabie 4y ago
    Clearly it's good for the H1B person?
    - WirelessGigabit 4y ago
      Yes, but that's why we have immigration laws. It's a very fine balance to walk. 2 people, same age, but one from USA and one from a country without student dept... And this person from another country WANTS to come to the USA. They will be able to live on a lower wage. And even if they're done with the low wage, the process or changing jobs is arduous. So you're stuck. This gets exacerbated by the fact that it's really hard to gauge the cost of living from abroad.
- matheusmoreira 4y ago
  > or they could just hire people in the US, there's plenty of good US labor to go around At 50k USD per year? Doubt it. 50k is nothing to americans but it's a shitload of money to a lot of people, including south americans like me. Very few people here make more than that. In fact the value of such a salary will probably increase even further as our nations descend ever deeper into economy-destroying communism.
  - no_wizard 4y ago
    Sure, but you don't need an H1B visa to get hired in your own country. Yet suspiciously, companies don't just open international arms of a company to do business (its alot easier than it used to be and its only initial overhead anyway). I'm suspicious of anyone wanting to hire H1B workers for 50K, that sounds like undercutting the labor market with foreign labor which is not the actual stated goal of the H1B system and the legislation that created it
- ams92 4y ago
  They need to update the minimum salary for H1B. There is no reason to bring in a QA engineer making 50k per year who tolerates poor working conditions due to lack of better options. I think that 100k would make more sense, and it arguably should be higher if the country wants to keep fulfilling the original goals of H1B.
smcl 4y ago
Cool option if you have found some candidates in Singapore or Chile but they’re two small-ish countries (relatively speaking - ~25 million combined, compared to the >7 billion in the rest of the world), that probably won’t move the needle much.
- ulfw 4y ago
  or they could get Australians on an E3 visa (https://rjimmigrationlaw.com/resources/as-an-australian-how-do-i-work-in-the-usa/ https://rjimmigrationlaw.com/resources/as-an-australian-how-...) or Canadians on a TN visa. US Immigration is ridiculous in how arbitrary it is. Where you are born matters more than who you are.
  - e1g 4y ago
    I’m on E3, and my wife is on a TN - the company has to do nothing for a TN visa beyond what they already do for US citizens. Even that was too much friction for many places she interviewed at. The conversation was, "Are you authorized to work in the USA today?" No, but give me an offer letter, and I will be tomorrow morning. "Sorry, bye-bye". A simple process isn’t enough when most companies are terrified of dealing with immigration topics due to unknown (often non-existent) issues.
    - inconceivable 4y ago
      if it were that simple i would just say yes, write the letter myself, and ask the hiring manager to sign it.
      - e1g 4y ago
        It is that simple, but the question comes up early from recruiters and first round interviewers, not the hiring manager. If you are honest, you get disqualified at the gate. If you say “yes” to these folks, and it works, the first thing you now have to say to your real manager will be “I lied about a legal matter and now need you to sign something to help me get out of it”. Helleva first impression.
verst 4y ago
My understanding is that H1B1 is not considered a dual intent visa, and so adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident isn't possible. Its history lies in a free trade agreement. There are also annual limits for H1B1 but they are less likely to be reached. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/programs/h-1b https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/programs/h-1b Whomever you hire on H1B1 just note you will almost certainly lose them after their visa extension completes.
- Raidion 4y ago
  Pretty anecdotally but I have a friend on an H1B1, and he's actively going though the green card process now.
- the_svd_doctor 4y ago
  Being dual-intent just means when you arrive (ie, when you cross the border, the first time or anytime after), you can't have immigrant intent at that time. Once you're in, if you eventually (genuinely) change your mind, that's fine, you can adjust to LPR.
- nico 4y ago
  I personally know many people that have transitioned from H1B1 to green card. Some even to citizenship afterwards. I’m sure there is a legal way to do it. H1B1 can be extended for a long time and is cheap to get and renew. What do you mean about loosing them? I mean you want them to have freedom as well right? For employees, it’s relatively easy to transfer to another employee given how cheap and easy it is to get the visa, especially once you’ve gotten it for the first time.
foobiekr 4y ago
At one of the companies I’ve worked for the H1b and associated limits was getting significant enough that there were tons off meeting about what to do and so on. At one point a guy was getting pretty heated about it so I asked why we didn’t just hire in Poland, south and Central America and so on? At least the americas time zone would be a major improvement. The guy who I was responding to reacted like I was crazy. His reaction made no sense. We weren’t a body shop and high tech isn’t somehow exclusive to India. After the meeting, basically, a few of the other participants pointed out the flaw in my argument: the problem was that I was crazy, obviously, as there aren’t Indians in those places to hire. The point here isn’t india bad or whatever it’s that there is more going on at the hiring manager level than simply filling area under the curve with solid talent. Personal preferences, clannishness and racism of all varieties distorts the outcome and that by and large H1b has been hijacked to serve other goals.
- tristor 4y ago
  > Personal preferences, clannishness and racism of all varieties distorts the outcome and that by and large H1b has been hijacked to serve other goals. It isn't lost on casual observers either. It's not just that there's an expectation that these roles will be filled with Indians, but Indians of a particular caste from a particular region of India. It seems largely, in my opinion, to be the result of promoting Indians to executive leadership roles in engineering departments. When that happens, there becomes a clear driving factor towards growing the number of Indians from their origin region in that engineering department completely divorced from other goals. It's normal executive empire-building behavior, but recast through the lens of national and regional origin and ethnicity/caste. One thing I like about the BU I work in is that we have a lot of staff around the world from many different places and have helped people immigrate to the US from many different places, but when I look around my company more broadly it's very heavily dominated by Indians in engineering, beyond any reasonable expectations. There are many talented people in Central and Eastern Europe, in Central America, and in South America that are completely ignored in favor of trying to hire more Indians particularly in many companies, including mine. I've even been told before it's due to "cultural fit", which used to be a phrase used to discriminate against anyone that wasn't a straight white bro, and is now being used to discriminate against anyone that isn't an Indian from the same ethnic, caste, and regional origin as the rest of the team/hiring manager. It seems absurd to me that we're in a situation where someone can say that with a straight face for a team that's based in an office in a major US city, and truly expect that the only possible answer is to hire more Indians without considering anyone else.
dangus 4y ago
I wonder how many people from Singapore actually want to move to the United States.
- nico 4y ago
  Not sure. But can tell you that most h1b1 spots got unused every year.
peoplearepeople 4y ago
Australians via an E3 visa is also really easy

Just hire people from Chile and Singapore using the much easier to get, and underutilized, H1B1.

by nico 4y ago

Just hire people from Chile and Singapore using the much easier to get, and underutilized, H1B1.

or they could just hire people in the US, there's plenty of good US labor to go around. The point of these programs was to augment labor markets in times of shortage (H1B isn't just used by tech FWIW), IE, the internal US labor pool wasn't big enough to sustain hiring in the US for N job(s) due to requirements and you could demonstrate that some form of training would be sufficiently work in a timely manner Its been pretty clear this isn't really true for decades yet H1B hasn't been curtailed meaningfully to uphold its intended goals

wbl 4y ago
Why shouldn't the US attract highly skilled workers from abroad?
- no_wizard 4y ago
  I distinctively didn't say the US shouldn't. I said the H1B program is not working as intended and pointed out its faltering its mission, and has been for decades. Whether we should have better immigration policies is a separate discussion, and I think we most definitely should. Path to citizenship would be for the best. It historically has worked out in the favor the nation, after all. The H1B program isn't this at all though
- afavour 4y ago
  Not really the question here. The H1B visa is intended to specifically target industries with a shortage of workers. Even as someone who arrived in the country on an H1B myself I question whether software engineering is experiencing a shortage these days given the mass layoffs we’ve seen lately. Whether we should prioritize local workers over foreign (and whether we have enough local workers) is a much broader political question.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- hu3 4y ago
  It's natural and healthy for countries to prioritize hiring their own citizens. H1B has been abused to hire workers of similar skillset for a lower salary. And I say that as a non-US citizen, interested in H1B program.
- bdcravens 4y ago
  They should. However, that's not the point of the H1B - it's designed to bridge gaps in domestic skills, not increase competition.
- sethd 4y ago
  The H1B program might have started out as a way to attract highly skilled workers, and that might still happen in some cases today, but by and large it's not resulting in the US pulling in top talent and it is used as a way to suppress wages in the US across the board. We need immigration policies that allow highly skilled workers to come to the US with no strings attached so these workers have the same job mobility as US citizens and permanent residents. The H1B program today resembles something closer to indentured servitude. So yes, the US should attract highly skilled workers, but no, the H1B program is not working that way.
  - pl90087 4y ago
    My company struggles to find the right people. Many that we find we can't hire because the risk is too high that they won't make the lottery, so positions keep unfilled. This is a serious problem limiting our growth.
    - big_youth 4y ago
      Why not hire Americans? I went to a no name state school with a large CS class. Sure we're not MIT/Stanford quality (well many where) but plenty of talent to go around. Whether they want to work for your wages is the real issues.
      - pl90087 4y ago
        > Why not hire Americans? If they pass the interview then we obviously gladly hire them. But competition is hard. We do have quite competitive wages. But we need more people than the American-only portion of the market has to offer. Competent foreigners make up a sizeable part of the applicants, and those who don't already have visa or green card we just can't hire. It's as simple as that.
        greenfield1 4y ago
        "Why not hire Americans?" in this context is like asking "Why not just vaccinate people?" in April 2020.
- toomuchtodo 4y ago
  Nation state policy should be aggressively seeking and rolling the carpet out for exceptional talent, not cheap talent to depress internal wages. This is pretty standard policy across developed nations (as someone who has looked into skilled worker visas outside the US from within and is not exceptional talent).
- sokoloff 4y ago
  We should. That's what the E1/E2 categories are for; H1B was designed to address labor shortages, not necessarily/specifically for attracting highly skilled workers.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- commandlinefan 4y ago
  > highly skilled I'm sure there are many H1B visa holders who are actually highly skilled in something that's actually nearly impossible to find anywhere else. I know from experience that a lot of H1B visa holders are about the same as what you can find domestically (but they're a lot less likely to agitate for better working conditions).
- geraldwhen 4y ago
  Where are these candidates? I’ve only ever been given barely-entry level Junior h1bs I’ve been expected to train from 0. One person I was forced to work with legitimately did not understand how to connect to wifi or know when he was connected to wifi. He kept calling me saying his computer was broken.
- stcroixx 4y ago
  Without limits, it would destroy the market for domestic workers.
Swizec 4y ago
I had to research this for my greencard a while back. Here’s a fun stat for ya: USA opens about 500,000 new software development positions per year. USA creates about 50,000 new comp sci graduates per year. There are an order of magnitude too few Americans every year for the jobs available. Whatever you think of the H1B (and it has many problems), I doubt it’s coming even close to bridging that gap. source with links to sources: https://swizec.com/blog/software-engineering-best-job/ https://swizec.com/blog/software-engineering-best-job/
- smolder 4y ago
  You may have a point, but there at least a few degrees apart from Comp Sci that can lead to software development, nevermind mid-career direction changes and boot camps.
- guessbest 4y ago
  Is the USA the only country which has 10x more positions than freshly graduated students? If so, then America is the only country in the world which adequately compensates software developers which would mean it is unusual for another country like India and China to even have software developers if they would be better employed in the United States. Maybe the point of computer science programs is to serve as future American immigrants.
  - toast0 4y ago
    > which would mean it is unusual for another country like India and China to even have software developers if they would be better employed in the United States. There's lots of reasons software developers in India and China would remain in India and China, but one big one is obtaining a visa and permanent residency to live and work in the US is hard in general, and more so for people in populous countries with many emigrants destined for the US; I think it's India, China, and Mexico that have the three longest queues for green cards where there's a limit per country of birth. There's certainly a path to immigration through a computer science degree. Especially advanced degrees, which give preferences to visa applications. If you can afford it, get a bachelor's in your country of origin, come to the US for a Masters, work on OPT visa after graduation, hope it converts to H1B, work on H1B until you get a green card, is a well worn path, but there are others.
riku_iki 4y ago
> or they could just hire people in the US, there's plenty of good US labor to go around. the business of those companies is to bring some person, pay him $50/h while charge client $300/h. Good US labor wouldn't agree to work for $50/h.
- no_wizard 4y ago
  Then they should either setup an international arm abroad, which is perfectly legal[0] or raise your wages. If you can afford the overhead of the H1B system (there's a bunch of ongoing legal costs to doing this) then setting up an international arm of the company isn't that much different. The H1B program is not and its stated goal is not, to be able to undercut the US labor market with foreign labor [0]: though as someone in the labor market, it does have negative consequences on me potentially
  - riku_iki 4y ago
    > Then they should either setup an international arm abroad they sell h1b employees as US on-site consultants. > there's a bunch of ongoing legal costs to doing this several thousands USD as to my knowledge.
SheinhardtWigCo 4y ago
Exactly. H1B hires don't have the same freedom to look for another job, because a new employer has to hire a lawyer to transfer the H1B, and not many companies have the resources or are willing to do that. Even if a company offers market wages when hiring a H1B, it's arguably a better investment because they have far lower mobility. That isn't good for anyone except the big tech firms.
- smabie 4y ago
  Clearly it's good for the H1B person?
  - WirelessGigabit 4y ago
    Yes, but that's why we have immigration laws. It's a very fine balance to walk. 2 people, same age, but one from USA and one from a country without student dept... And this person from another country WANTS to come to the USA. They will be able to live on a lower wage. And even if they're done with the low wage, the process or changing jobs is arduous. So you're stuck. This gets exacerbated by the fact that it's really hard to gauge the cost of living from abroad.
matheusmoreira 4y ago
> or they could just hire people in the US, there's plenty of good US labor to go around At 50k USD per year? Doubt it. 50k is nothing to americans but it's a shitload of money to a lot of people, including south americans like me. Very few people here make more than that. In fact the value of such a salary will probably increase even further as our nations descend ever deeper into economy-destroying communism.
- no_wizard 4y ago
  Sure, but you don't need an H1B visa to get hired in your own country. Yet suspiciously, companies don't just open international arms of a company to do business (its alot easier than it used to be and its only initial overhead anyway). I'm suspicious of anyone wanting to hire H1B workers for 50K, that sounds like undercutting the labor market with foreign labor which is not the actual stated goal of the H1B system and the legislation that created it
ams92 4y ago
They need to update the minimum salary for H1B. There is no reason to bring in a QA engineer making 50k per year who tolerates poor working conditions due to lack of better options. I think that 100k would make more sense, and it arguably should be higher if the country wants to keep fulfilling the original goals of H1B.

smcl 4y ago

Cool option if you have found some candidates in Singapore or Chile but they’re two small-ish countries (relatively speaking - ~25 million combined, compared to the >7 billion in the rest of the world), that probably won’t move the needle much.

ulfw 4y ago
or they could get Australians on an E3 visa (https://rjimmigrationlaw.com/resources/as-an-australian-how-do-i-work-in-the-usa/ https://rjimmigrationlaw.com/resources/as-an-australian-how-...) or Canadians on a TN visa. US Immigration is ridiculous in how arbitrary it is. Where you are born matters more than who you are.
- e1g 4y ago
  I’m on E3, and my wife is on a TN - the company has to do nothing for a TN visa beyond what they already do for US citizens. Even that was too much friction for many places she interviewed at. The conversation was, "Are you authorized to work in the USA today?" No, but give me an offer letter, and I will be tomorrow morning. "Sorry, bye-bye". A simple process isn’t enough when most companies are terrified of dealing with immigration topics due to unknown (often non-existent) issues.
  - inconceivable 4y ago
    if it were that simple i would just say yes, write the letter myself, and ask the hiring manager to sign it.
    - e1g 4y ago
      It is that simple, but the question comes up early from recruiters and first round interviewers, not the hiring manager. If you are honest, you get disqualified at the gate. If you say “yes” to these folks, and it works, the first thing you now have to say to your real manager will be “I lied about a legal matter and now need you to sign something to help me get out of it”. Helleva first impression.

verst 4y ago

My understanding is that H1B1 is not considered a dual intent visa, and so adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident isn't possible. Its history lies in a free trade agreement. There are also annual limits for H1B1 but they are less likely to be reached. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/programs/h-1b https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/programs/h-1b Whomever you hire on H1B1 just note you will almost certainly lose them after their visa extension completes.

Raidion 4y ago
Pretty anecdotally but I have a friend on an H1B1, and he's actively going though the green card process now.
the_svd_doctor 4y ago
Being dual-intent just means when you arrive (ie, when you cross the border, the first time or anytime after), you can't have immigrant intent at that time. Once you're in, if you eventually (genuinely) change your mind, that's fine, you can adjust to LPR.
nico 4y ago
I personally know many people that have transitioned from H1B1 to green card. Some even to citizenship afterwards. I’m sure there is a legal way to do it. H1B1 can be extended for a long time and is cheap to get and renew. What do you mean about loosing them? I mean you want them to have freedom as well right? For employees, it’s relatively easy to transfer to another employee given how cheap and easy it is to get the visa, especially once you’ve gotten it for the first time.

foobiekr 4y ago

At one of the companies I’ve worked for the H1b and associated limits was getting significant enough that there were tons off meeting about what to do and so on. At one point a guy was getting pretty heated about it so I asked why we didn’t just hire in Poland, south and Central America and so on? At least the americas time zone would be a major improvement. The guy who I was responding to reacted like I was crazy. His reaction made no sense. We weren’t a body shop and high tech isn’t somehow exclusive to India. After the meeting, basically, a few of the other participants pointed out the flaw in my argument: the problem was that I was crazy, obviously, as there aren’t Indians in those places to hire. The point here isn’t india bad or whatever it’s that there is more going on at the hiring manager level than simply filling area under the curve with solid talent. Personal preferences, clannishness and racism of all varieties distorts the outcome and that by and large H1b has been hijacked to serve other goals.

tristor 4y ago
> Personal preferences, clannishness and racism of all varieties distorts the outcome and that by and large H1b has been hijacked to serve other goals. It isn't lost on casual observers either. It's not just that there's an expectation that these roles will be filled with Indians, but Indians of a particular caste from a particular region of India. It seems largely, in my opinion, to be the result of promoting Indians to executive leadership roles in engineering departments. When that happens, there becomes a clear driving factor towards growing the number of Indians from their origin region in that engineering department completely divorced from other goals. It's normal executive empire-building behavior, but recast through the lens of national and regional origin and ethnicity/caste. One thing I like about the BU I work in is that we have a lot of staff around the world from many different places and have helped people immigrate to the US from many different places, but when I look around my company more broadly it's very heavily dominated by Indians in engineering, beyond any reasonable expectations. There are many talented people in Central and Eastern Europe, in Central America, and in South America that are completely ignored in favor of trying to hire more Indians particularly in many companies, including mine. I've even been told before it's due to "cultural fit", which used to be a phrase used to discriminate against anyone that wasn't a straight white bro, and is now being used to discriminate against anyone that isn't an Indian from the same ethnic, caste, and regional origin as the rest of the team/hiring manager. It seems absurd to me that we're in a situation where someone can say that with a straight face for a team that's based in an office in a major US city, and truly expect that the only possible answer is to hire more Indians without considering anyone else.

dangus 4y ago

I wonder how many people from Singapore actually want to move to the United States.

nico 4y ago
Not sure. But can tell you that most h1b1 spots got unused every year.

peoplearepeople 4y ago

Australians via an E3 visa is also really easy