7 ms·

Why shouldn't the US attract highly skilled workers from abroad?

by wbl 4y ago

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.

Why shouldn't the US attract highly skilled workers from abroad?

by wbl 4y ago

Why shouldn't the US attract highly skilled workers from abroad?

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.