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disclaimer: It's possible that I end up being an H-1B worker eventually, I'm a foreigner working in the US, and I'm working on a website that helps people like
by makmanalp 14y ago
disclaimer: It's possible that I end up being an H-1B worker eventually, I'm a foreigner working in the US, and I'm working on a website that helps people like me.
> H-1B workers are cheaper than Americans — "and the cost difference is too great" for IBM not to look for foreign workers first. The H-1B statutes are designed to allow employers to legally pay H-1B workers less than Americans and IBM (and a lot of others) is taking full advantage.
This is interesting, because the H-1B process costs about 5k in processing and lawyer fees, plus an additional 2kish fee for larger companies.
In addition to this, companies are required to pay the prevailing wage for that profession and location to foreign workers, so that they can not undercut Americans (or at least that was what was intended).
Prevailing wages are determined by the Dept of Labor, the same guys who set minimum wages. Unless this data is way off-base, H-1B workers are by definition not cheaper than the average worker.
What I see as being likelier is that H-1B workers are an easy-to-hire pool of workers (the average H-1B worker is super happy to get a job / visa), who are willing to work hard for just above prevailing wage.
Not to mention that if there is a lack of supply of american workers who are working for around prevailing wage (because they already have jobs and can't be hired), it's easier to hire people from abroad than to wait until those workers are available or more workers come in.
P.S. The CIS is known for its slightly odd conservative stance on immigration, which is something like "we don't want foreigners to come in if they can compete with Americans (who were also immigrants), but otherwise we're pro-immigration (under these very stringent requirements)"
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edit: Now that I think about it, it's likelier that a ton of these workers come in L-1 visas. These are for intra-company transfers for multinationals. These have no prevailing wage requirements. So IBM india can hire a worker and move them over here for the same wage. And it still allows dual-intent, so you can eventually get a green card via L-1.
- _delirium 14y agoIn addition to this, companies are required to pay the prevailing wage for that profession and location to foreign workers, so that they can not undercut Americans (or at least that was what was intended). I have no idea how prevalent it is, but the mechanism I've heard for getting around these rules is to hire someone at a lower title than what they're qualified for, and then pay them the prevailing wage for that position, with the informal expectation that they'll do higher-level work in actuality (if for no other reason than to avoid boredom). For example, you hire someone at a game company into a QA position, but they're actually a graphics programmer, and once they're hired they sort of start doing more graphics programming even though it's not in their job description.
- makmanalp 14y agoThis makes sense. But the company can get into pretty big trouble for doing that. The nicest punishment is that they will be marked a willful violator and have to provide additional documentation for each H-1B. Or they can get debarred from getting H-1Bs. This makes no strategic sense for H-1B heavy companies.
- Evbn 14y agoThere is no enforcement, though.
- dclusin 14y agoI personally have known people who do software development for as low as 35k/year. I have also known people who have attained wages as an engineer for as high as 250k/yr. Given this continuum I suspect it's very easy for a well heeled employer to keep the costs on the lower end of that spectrum.
- bubbleRefuge 14y agoDoing a project at Apple in the IT dept(big SAP shop). Feels like 99% of heads are staffed directly from India. There are some folks on L1's. Majority of them are rooming up to afford the cost of living in SV. No diversity whatsoever.
- makmanalp 14y agoI can't edit my comment but edit2: It is also possible to become an H-1B dependent employer if you have over 15% H-1Bs, which requires you to provide extra attestations for each H-1B employee: http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/FactSheet62/whdfs62C.pdf http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/FactSheet62/whdfs62C....