Slashdot Mirror
The IT Market: Cyclical Downturn or New World Order?
An anonymous reader wrote: "CNN.com is running an interesting story on the heels of a Forrester
Research report concerning the
shift of high tech jobs from the U.S. to places like China, India, and Russia for cheaper labor and got me thinking about the nature
of the current downtrend in programmer demand in the U.S (as opposed to the "morality" of such a shift). While I'm sure the causes for this downtrend are variable, the more important
question in my mind is this -- Is software guru Bruce Eckel correct in
saying that the current downturn represents a temporary blip in the business cycle as jobs are shifted from large and medium companies to smaller companies,
or are Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas correct in recognizing this as
a new reality. Personally I tend to agree with Hunt and Thomas's view (which is not completely opposed to Bruce's opinion, btw) and
I also agree with their viewpoint that protectionist policies like H1B quotas and tariffs won't work to change anything for the better. So what do you think? Is this
just another business cycle or is this a New World Order in IT?"
If that's true, it's illegal. The Immigration law governing H1Bs states that they must be paid the going market rate as determined by the Dept of Labor. Of course, if the Dept of Labor determined that your co-worker's job was only worth $10/hr, then it wouldn't be surprising he was laid off.
The Immigration law also states that the employer must take a US citizen instead of an H1B if the citizen is suitably qualified for the position. I think it also states that they can't fire citizens and then hire H1Bs to replace them. This assumes that the citizens are suitably qualified for the work they are already doing.
I wish people would get over this "H1Bs are paid peanuts" myth. It's illegal, and if you catch your employer at it, don't whine on /., report them to the Dept of Labor and get some action!