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H1-B leaves as an indentured servant? I am working in the US under a temporary work visa, and by no means Im enslaved or abused. I have a market competitive wa

H1-B leaves as an indentured servant? I am working in the US under a temporary work visa, and by no means Im enslaved or abused. I have a market competitive wage for my skills, and have the most engaging and rewarding job i ever found as a software engineer other than personal projects. In fact, It's a huge effort and sacrifice to move to the US for work, leaving friends and family behind. US is not qatar, i can always leave whenever I want and work in argentina. Increasing the number of workers would , by supply and demand, lower wages. And that of itself its a very reasonable goal for any big company. Thats why companies back "teach to code" programs, "teach science in school" and many other education related endeavors, simply to increase the worker base. Also visas provide a very strong incentive for the US government to sponsor: tech is one of the most outsource-able jobs out there, and that means lots of money and taxes go to other countries. Moving the talent prevents that. Just so you know, the problem of people going to the US for tech jobs is a huge concern in other countries, that cant provide competitive wages as the US.

GFischer 13y ago
I agree that calling an H1B an "indentured servant" is a bit of an hyperbole. But you certainly have a lot lower leverage than an US citizen. As you say, you can leave whenever you want, but you went through hardships to go to the US, and back in Argentina you're going to find awful working conditions - a 25.000 pesos salary is about 1500 dollars right now, good luck with that, and that's the salary I was offered not very long ago. So, you're lucky you're not treated differently at your company, and most H1Bs I know aren't either, but some do have abusive bosses or situations they have to tolerate or get deported. Edit: see link and discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7113881 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7113881
- conanbatt 13y ago
  Of course there is definitely a leverage difference, but its impossible to completely eliminate that in a migratory concern. Argentina has very low requirments for immigration, so if an american went looking for work there, he wouldnt have nearly as much hassle from the government to do it. And even then, he would be less leveraged than locals: "you dont know the language as fluently" , or the market, or whatever. About the argentinian wages: you can work from argentina to an outside company as well, which is what i used to do. Wages are less, but so are taxes and cost of living. If you want to get a US wage and live the Argentinian life, you are taking the best from one and the best from the other, its not a sensible comparison. At least with what I see on the visa, companies have a lot to lose by "abusing" the power: a formal complaint could put the organization under review and that is probably not a walk in the park. Overall, from the US market perspective, getting "slightly cheaper labor" is still much better than straight down outsourcing.

GFischer 13y ago

I agree that calling an H1B an "indentured servant" is a bit of an hyperbole. But you certainly have a lot lower leverage than an US citizen. As you say, you can leave whenever you want, but you went through hardships to go to the US, and back in Argentina you're going to find awful working conditions - a 25.000 pesos salary is about 1500 dollars right now, good luck with that, and that's the salary I was offered not very long ago. So, you're lucky you're not treated differently at your company, and most H1Bs I know aren't either, but some do have abusive bosses or situations they have to tolerate or get deported. Edit: see link and discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7113881 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7113881

conanbatt 13y ago
Of course there is definitely a leverage difference, but its impossible to completely eliminate that in a migratory concern. Argentina has very low requirments for immigration, so if an american went looking for work there, he wouldnt have nearly as much hassle from the government to do it. And even then, he would be less leveraged than locals: "you dont know the language as fluently" , or the market, or whatever. About the argentinian wages: you can work from argentina to an outside company as well, which is what i used to do. Wages are less, but so are taxes and cost of living. If you want to get a US wage and live the Argentinian life, you are taking the best from one and the best from the other, its not a sensible comparison. At least with what I see on the visa, companies have a lot to lose by "abusing" the power: a formal complaint could put the organization under review and that is probably not a walk in the park. Overall, from the US market perspective, getting "slightly cheaper labor" is still much better than straight down outsourcing.