4 ms·

The H-1B visa is not a solution to the shortage of teachers in the US. Rather, it is a tool that some school districts are using to try to fill in the gaps whe

by shagie 1y ago

The H-1B visa is not a solution to the shortage of teachers in the US. Rather, it is a tool that some school districts are using to try to fill in the gaps where they have a shortage. My point is one of "if fixing of H-1B abuse is solved by changing it to be an auction based on compensation, it will negatively impact all of the companies that use the H-1B for roles other than those that can compete with Big Tech software developers for compensation." There are a lot of people out there on a H-1B visa working for companies that have gone through the process of trying to hire a US citizen first and failed to find anyone for that role (that isn't a software developer). There are classifications for companies that employ a lot of H-1B visa holders. It is known as a H-1B-dependent employer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B-dependent_employer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B-dependent_employer If the goal is to limit the fraud and abuses ( here's how to report https://www.uscis.gov/scams-fraud-and-misconduct/report-fraud/combating-fraud-and-abuse-in-the-h-1b-visa-program https://www.uscis.gov/scams-fraud-and-misconduct/report-frau... ) then further regulating and auditing companies in that classification would be the first place to start rather than trying to change the visa itself. Yes, this is playing whack-a-mole with "shut down one fraudulent consultancy and another one pops up." However, a significant component of this is that companies have difficulty managing projects and staff outside of their core competencies. We need to migrate from one ERP system to another - you get the professional services for the ERP company which in turn brings in a consultancy to do the project. It isn't entirely reasonable for the original company to try to staff up FTEs to do it (and them lay 3/4ths of them off when the project is complete and it goes to a maintenance level of work). Low salaries - by themselves - are not the problem. There are fields that don't pay as well as Big Tech software developer. There are also companies that have much lower revenue per employee than Big Tech companies ( https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=revenue+per+employee+%28Apple%2C+Meta%2C+Google%29 https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=revenue+per+employee+%2... ) and trying to match Big Tech compensation would bankrupt them.

airstrike 1y ago
> There are a lot of people out there on a H-1B visa working for companies that have gone through the process of trying to hire a US citizen first and failed to find anyone for that role (that isn't a software developer). Yes, but I still think those positions are better solved by increasing the salary for those positions. Even if you don't believe that, the H-1B as it exists today is trying to do too many things at once and it's failing at most of those. My specific policy proposal is on fixing it for the use case of finding high-skilled workers for high-paying jobs US citizens do not want to do today. I'm not at all against having other visa programs to solve other needs, including temp workers for tech consulting gigs, teachers or anything else, for that matter. I'm 100% pro immigration, as is anyone who understands Economics.
- shagie 1y ago
  Consider a different approach then. Instead of (what I consider would be) breaking the H-1B for everything that isn't tech, create another H-1 category visa. The Immigration act of 1990 split the H-1 visa into the H-1A (nurses) and H-1B (everything else). In 1999, the H-1C was created for nurses shortages (which expired in 2009). Would having a H-1D visa that is limited to jobs that are classified under the BLS 15-xxxx ( https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes_stru.htm#15-0000 https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes_stru.htm#15-0000 ) and have a different criteria (compare how the TN visa limits to specific occupations that align with the BLS occupational profiles - https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-2-part-p-chapter-6 https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-2-part-p-chapter-... - which means that the classification is either a computer system analyst or engineer for someone from Canada or Mexico to get a technical job in the US). This would change the the other H visas to prohibit people from getting a visa for a position that would otherwise require a H-1D visa to be authorized to work. At that point, one could have an auction for those candidates and highest wage compensation wins. Might want to have something with a US masters degree again (as that's an important part of many graduate program income for universities). I still believe there are a number of second order effects that need to be considered in this suggestion (this would likely exacerbate the "immigrants are getting paid more than me" problems that one also sees with "juniors are getting paid more than me" - and yes, those are problems, but I think that this may make it worse). The thing is to not break the rest of the H-1B visas when trying to fix the problems caused by H-1B-dependent employers.

by shagie 1y ago

airstrike 1y ago

> There are a lot of people out there on a H-1B visa working for companies that have gone through the process of trying to hire a US citizen first and failed to find anyone for that role (that isn't a software developer). Yes, but I still think those positions are better solved by increasing the salary for those positions. Even if you don't believe that, the H-1B as it exists today is trying to do too many things at once and it's failing at most of those. My specific policy proposal is on fixing it for the use case of finding high-skilled workers for high-paying jobs US citizens do not want to do today. I'm not at all against having other visa programs to solve other needs, including temp workers for tech consulting gigs, teachers or anything else, for that matter. I'm 100% pro immigration, as is anyone who understands Economics.

shagie 1y ago
Consider a different approach then. Instead of (what I consider would be) breaking the H-1B for everything that isn't tech, create another H-1 category visa. The Immigration act of 1990 split the H-1 visa into the H-1A (nurses) and H-1B (everything else). In 1999, the H-1C was created for nurses shortages (which expired in 2009). Would having a H-1D visa that is limited to jobs that are classified under the BLS 15-xxxx ( https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes_stru.htm#15-0000 https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes_stru.htm#15-0000 ) and have a different criteria (compare how the TN visa limits to specific occupations that align with the BLS occupational profiles - https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-2-part-p-chapter-6 https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-2-part-p-chapter-... - which means that the classification is either a computer system analyst or engineer for someone from Canada or Mexico to get a technical job in the US). This would change the the other H visas to prohibit people from getting a visa for a position that would otherwise require a H-1D visa to be authorized to work. At that point, one could have an auction for those candidates and highest wage compensation wins. Might want to have something with a US masters degree again (as that's an important part of many graduate program income for universities). I still believe there are a number of second order effects that need to be considered in this suggestion (this would likely exacerbate the "immigrants are getting paid more than me" problems that one also sees with "juniors are getting paid more than me" - and yes, those are problems, but I think that this may make it worse). The thing is to not break the rest of the H-1B visas when trying to fix the problems caused by H-1B-dependent employers.