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As an Indian and an H1B myself who is compensated decently (1.8 times prevailing wage) -- I hate these companies since they lead to us being stigmatised as a gr

As an Indian and an H1B myself who is compensated decently (1.8 times prevailing wage) -- I hate these companies since they lead to us being stigmatised as a group. I'm sure my coworkers are going to read this article today and point at me and say "Ugh, there's my H1B replacement.", even though I'm like one of two H1Bs at x00 employee company. Ultimately, this leads back to the fact that the US has a large number of laws which are not enforced in reality. If these companies are breaking the law so badly (and they probably are, the top 7 or so companies using H1B are Infosys and other outsourcing firms) -- why don't employees go ahead and sue them? They are (presumably) incorporated in the US after all, it's not like they are untouchable. This is also an excellent case for H1B reform. If a green card was a necessary condition of employing an H1B, these tech companies would have a much harder time retaining their lower paid employees, and the cost of "outsourcing in the US" as it were, would be prohibitive.

dkrich 11y ago
>> If these companies are breaking the law so badly (and they probably are, the top 7 or so companies using H1B are Infosys and other outsourcing firms) -- why don't employees go ahead and sue them? Lawsuits are extremely expensive and when you are butting heads with some of the largest corporations in the world, your odds of prevailing are pretty much nil. The only hope of overcoming those kinds of odds is for the government to get involved.
geebee 11y ago
Ugh. I can't deny this may happen, and it shouldn't. But at this point, I think a lot of people are aware that there are alternate universes of the H1B system. One side of it doesn't (deliberately) treat an H1B worker any differently than anyone else. In truth, even in top companies, the limited mobility of the worker may influence things in ways that aren't noticed - if it's harder to leave, it's harder to negotiate, even if you're a top dev at google. But ultimately, these companies more or less hire and treat H1B workers the same as their core workforce. Then you have this completely alternate universe. A lot of people were pretty shocked (including people who strongly support skilled immigration) to discover that most of the largest users of this program are outsourcing companies. Part of the outrage even came from the pro H1B camp, since people who are offering very high salaries for top talent discover that visas are "all run out", because they have to apply for the same lottery as a company that is paying vastly less (and replacing a US citizen in the process).

dkrich 11y ago

>> If these companies are breaking the law so badly (and they probably are, the top 7 or so companies using H1B are Infosys and other outsourcing firms) -- why don't employees go ahead and sue them? Lawsuits are extremely expensive and when you are butting heads with some of the largest corporations in the world, your odds of prevailing are pretty much nil. The only hope of overcoming those kinds of odds is for the government to get involved.

geebee 11y ago

Ugh. I can't deny this may happen, and it shouldn't. But at this point, I think a lot of people are aware that there are alternate universes of the H1B system. One side of it doesn't (deliberately) treat an H1B worker any differently than anyone else. In truth, even in top companies, the limited mobility of the worker may influence things in ways that aren't noticed - if it's harder to leave, it's harder to negotiate, even if you're a top dev at google. But ultimately, these companies more or less hire and treat H1B workers the same as their core workforce. Then you have this completely alternate universe. A lot of people were pretty shocked (including people who strongly support skilled immigration) to discover that most of the largest users of this program are outsourcing companies. Part of the outrage even came from the pro H1B camp, since people who are offering very high salaries for top talent discover that visas are "all run out", because they have to apply for the same lottery as a company that is paying vastly less (and replacing a US citizen in the process).