5 ms·

This article and some of the comments here make it seem like having a H1B is a terrible situation to be in. I have a H1B. I work for major tech company in the

by jws0111 12y ago

This article and some of the comments here make it seem like having a H1B is a terrible situation to be in. I have a H1B. I work for major tech company in the Bay Area. I have a salary in the six figures which is about twice what I would earn back home. I was excited to come to America and work for a company I admire in their Silicon Valley headquarters and the H1B lottery was the only way for me to do so. Without H1B I wouldn't have had this opportunity. I don't feel like its indentured servitude, I have a salary which I believe is higher than the average market wage and is more than my American peers because the company is paying all of my visa expenses and the fees related to me pursuing a green card. I've been promoted once already in the 18 months since I arrived and received a related salary bump. If I wanted to leave and goto a different company, most in the bay area would allow me to transfer my visa so I could work for them. H1B is not a problem for America or "engineer's wages". Abuse of the system is. Lets focus on curtailing that abuse and not on victimising H1B employees who may be very happy and grateful for the opportunity to pursue their own version of the American dream. Spare a thought for those who had the job offer of their dreams, from that "brand name company" in an exciting field, and the opportunity to move to America, only for everything to fall through when they didn't get selected in the lottery. That is surely not right. Can't we come up with a system where American companies can hire who they want, where talented people can work for fair wages, and where individuals can get the opportunity to move to America, as despite all its failings, it is still an highly attractive place to live.

beat 12y ago
Great story! That's what I love about immigration - bringing people like you here. America needs people with your attitude.
- logfromblammo 12y ago
  But it's not immigration. H-1B visas are nonimmigrant guest worker visas, with dual intent. That just means H-1B guest workers are allowed to apply for permanent residency with an I-140 while working in the US. It doesn't take a rocket senator to figure out that if people are entering on an H-1B and then applying for a green card at the earliest opportunity, it is because the US isn't issuing nearly enough immigrant visas. Am I the only one that thinks America should be encouraging smart people with valuable skills to stay as long as they like, without sponsorship? I don't think I am. I also think that the vast numbers of foreign students attending American universities is a great opportunity. Why not slide up to graduates of certain degree programs and say, "Hey, buddy, you like America? Since you have a degree in X, I could convert that student visa to an immigrant worker visa right now, if you want. Actually, how about I do it anyway, and if you really don't want it, just tell me to stop? Hey! Wait! Where are you going? Do you want to live under your parents' thumbs? If you get on that plane now, you will regret it! Our taxes are really very reasonable! Come baaaaaack!"
  - beat 12y ago
    Can't say I disagree with you there. But America has a long tradition of people doing whatever it takes to get here - lying, twisting the rules, or hiding in container ships or swimming rivers in the dark of night. People take incredible risks to become Americans. THOSE are the people I want in my country! Serious immigrants are generally more entrepreneurial and more courageous that citizens. If there's a root cause justification to American exceptionalism, its that we came from above average stock.
    - Vraxx 12y ago
      I get where you're coming from, though I can't help but disagree with it. Why does it necessarily need to be hard for people to immigrate to ensure that they are people that you want in your country? Couldn't quality be enforced or even cared about by the people that are hiring them? I should think the act of immigrating alone presents enough challenges to 'thin out' the people who don't 'want it enough'. I think we're more likely to end up with higher quality immigrants if we provide higher quality opportunity in our countries rather than making it a ridiculous game of hoop jumping to immigrate. In fact, "lying, twisting the rules, or hiding in container ships or swimming rivers in the dark of night" sounds like it's more likely to instill contempt for the rules of the country before they're even citizen's rather than ensure their entrepreneurial spirit. Edited to space out paragraphs.
      - beat 12y ago
        "Contempt for the rules" is pretty congruent with "entrepreneurial spirit". :)
        Vraxx 12y ago
        I disagree with that because I think they are only situationally congruent and you don't necessarily need contempt for the rules to foster an entrepreneurial spirit. If the rules are burdensome without very good justification for existing (which is definitely possible) I think the two can be congruent, but I don't support making our rules burdensome without good justification for the sole purpose of breeding contempt for the rules/ an entrepreneurial spirit.
humanrebar 12y ago
> H1B is not a problem for America or "engineer's wages". Abuse of the system is. I'm sympathetic. I really am. I have a lot of friends working on visas, both now and in the past. But I just don't see the economics of this. How can adding hundreds of thousands of people in any field not depress wages, at least in the short-to-medium term. Why do I care? I want young Americans to go into IT and engineering in general. They are becoming more interested because wages and job security have been improving (at least relative to other careers, I'm not sure about in absolute terms). If we open the valve and flood the market, wages will be affected. Maybe they won't shrink, but maybe they'll be stagnant. And maybe the job security isn't quite as good. When I was in school, many people didn't go into IT because investment bubbles and trends in offshoring made IT work seem like a bad bet. There was skepticism that IT would provide a good long-term career. I don't see how importing hundreds of thousands of technology workers won't do the same thing. So, again, I really want people all over the world to have opportunities, but I feel my concerns should be for the future of the young people around me. They don't have another America to move to when their prospects get stale or bleak. They're already here.
- mwsherman 12y ago
  These are not engineers being “added”. They are being allowed to cross borders. What it does is equalize wages. They (outside the border) make more, and we (inside the border) make less.
- davidw 12y ago
  > But I just don't see the economics of this It goes beyond basic economics, so it's worth reading and learning about. > adding hundreds of thousands of people "Unfortunately", those people already exist and have skills, just in other places, where they happened to have been born. If you create bad enough policies, companies can and will go where the workers are. Also, this is not a zero sum game. There are more people and workers than 100 years ago, and yet... wages haven't cratered. > I feel my concerns should be for the future of the young people around me What is the radius of 'around you'? Your city? State? Country? Why are those people more important than those that happen to be born elsewhere? When did your ancestors come to the US? Why should people now not have the same rights they did? I'll post my link again: http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs/ http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs...

by jws0111 12y ago

beat 12y ago

Great story! That's what I love about immigration - bringing people like you here. America needs people with your attitude.

logfromblammo 12y ago
But it's not immigration. H-1B visas are nonimmigrant guest worker visas, with dual intent. That just means H-1B guest workers are allowed to apply for permanent residency with an I-140 while working in the US. It doesn't take a rocket senator to figure out that if people are entering on an H-1B and then applying for a green card at the earliest opportunity, it is because the US isn't issuing nearly enough immigrant visas. Am I the only one that thinks America should be encouraging smart people with valuable skills to stay as long as they like, without sponsorship? I don't think I am. I also think that the vast numbers of foreign students attending American universities is a great opportunity. Why not slide up to graduates of certain degree programs and say, "Hey, buddy, you like America? Since you have a degree in X, I could convert that student visa to an immigrant worker visa right now, if you want. Actually, how about I do it anyway, and if you really don't want it, just tell me to stop? Hey! Wait! Where are you going? Do you want to live under your parents' thumbs? If you get on that plane now, you will regret it! Our taxes are really very reasonable! Come baaaaaack!"
- beat 12y ago
  Can't say I disagree with you there. But America has a long tradition of people doing whatever it takes to get here - lying, twisting the rules, or hiding in container ships or swimming rivers in the dark of night. People take incredible risks to become Americans. THOSE are the people I want in my country! Serious immigrants are generally more entrepreneurial and more courageous that citizens. If there's a root cause justification to American exceptionalism, its that we came from above average stock.
  - Vraxx 12y ago
    I get where you're coming from, though I can't help but disagree with it. Why does it necessarily need to be hard for people to immigrate to ensure that they are people that you want in your country? Couldn't quality be enforced or even cared about by the people that are hiring them? I should think the act of immigrating alone presents enough challenges to 'thin out' the people who don't 'want it enough'. I think we're more likely to end up with higher quality immigrants if we provide higher quality opportunity in our countries rather than making it a ridiculous game of hoop jumping to immigrate. In fact, "lying, twisting the rules, or hiding in container ships or swimming rivers in the dark of night" sounds like it's more likely to instill contempt for the rules of the country before they're even citizen's rather than ensure their entrepreneurial spirit. Edited to space out paragraphs.
    - beat 12y ago
      "Contempt for the rules" is pretty congruent with "entrepreneurial spirit". :)
      - Vraxx 12y ago
        I disagree with that because I think they are only situationally congruent and you don't necessarily need contempt for the rules to foster an entrepreneurial spirit. If the rules are burdensome without very good justification for existing (which is definitely possible) I think the two can be congruent, but I don't support making our rules burdensome without good justification for the sole purpose of breeding contempt for the rules/ an entrepreneurial spirit.

humanrebar 12y ago

> H1B is not a problem for America or "engineer's wages". Abuse of the system is. I'm sympathetic. I really am. I have a lot of friends working on visas, both now and in the past. But I just don't see the economics of this. How can adding hundreds of thousands of people in any field not depress wages, at least in the short-to-medium term. Why do I care? I want young Americans to go into IT and engineering in general. They are becoming more interested because wages and job security have been improving (at least relative to other careers, I'm not sure about in absolute terms). If we open the valve and flood the market, wages will be affected. Maybe they won't shrink, but maybe they'll be stagnant. And maybe the job security isn't quite as good. When I was in school, many people didn't go into IT because investment bubbles and trends in offshoring made IT work seem like a bad bet. There was skepticism that IT would provide a good long-term career. I don't see how importing hundreds of thousands of technology workers won't do the same thing. So, again, I really want people all over the world to have opportunities, but I feel my concerns should be for the future of the young people around me. They don't have another America to move to when their prospects get stale or bleak. They're already here.

mwsherman 12y ago
These are not engineers being “added”. They are being allowed to cross borders. What it does is equalize wages. They (outside the border) make more, and we (inside the border) make less.
davidw 12y ago
> But I just don't see the economics of this It goes beyond basic economics, so it's worth reading and learning about. > adding hundreds of thousands of people "Unfortunately", those people already exist and have skills, just in other places, where they happened to have been born. If you create bad enough policies, companies can and will go where the workers are. Also, this is not a zero sum game. There are more people and workers than 100 years ago, and yet... wages haven't cratered. > I feel my concerns should be for the future of the young people around me What is the radius of 'around you'? Your city? State? Country? Why are those people more important than those that happen to be born elsewhere? When did your ancestors come to the US? Why should people now not have the same rights they did? I'll post my link again: http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs/ http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs...