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H-1B Cap Reached Today; Didn't Get In? Too Bad
First time accepted submitter Dawn Kawamoto writes "Employers stampeding into the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service to get their H-1B petitions filed before the cap is reached are getting the door slammed in their face today. The cap was hit in near record time of 5 days, compared to the 10 weeks it took last year to have more than enough petitions to fulfill the combined cap of 85,000 statutory and advanced degree H-1B petitions. While U.S. tech workers scream that they're losing out on jobs as H-1B workers are hired, employers are countering that the talent pool is lacking and they need to increase the cap. Of course, Congress is wrangling in on this one as to whether it's time to raise the bar."
talent pool is lacking = we don't want to pay
So why not have a minimum salary for H1B employees? Increase with inflation every year of course.
If an H1B is truly necessary because the talent is lacking, the presumably they'd be willing to pay. If it's because they only want to pay a foreigner $35k/yr for job with a market value of $70k/yr, then that's not what the H1B program is supposed to be about. Set the minimum at something like $80k/yr, and you'll be limiting it to folks who are really in high demand and the absolute in their field, otherwise you can hire an American.
I mean, really, what talent is there that should pay less than $80k/yr that you really cannot find an American to hire for?
The 10 largest users of H1B are off-shoring contract-houses. Last year, those 10 off-shoring companies claimed 40,000 of the 85,000 available H1B visas.
The way it works is that they low-bid on some project, bring in their people on H1B get them trained up and then send them back home to work on the same project.
Citation: Who's Hiring H-1B Visa Workers? It's Not Who You Might Think
All the PR about H1B says that we have a skills-shortage here, but if that is true, then H1B is contributing to the skills shortage rather than fixing it. Most of what is wrong with H1B could be fixed if the politicians actions matched their rhetoric - instead of being an unofficial dual-purpose immigration visa that typically expires just months before the immigrant clears all the paperwork for an green-card, make it a fast-track immigrant only visa - everybody on an H1B is guaranteed a green-card within just one year of residency. That way instead of being a brain-drain out of the US, we would be sucking in the (supposedly) higher-qualified foreign candidates to become permanent contributing members of US society.
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(Microsoft, Intel, Infosys, and simila...
When I see those assholes and others cry about the "lack of local talent" and see the out of work - willing and talented folks, I just shake my head and do what I have to. I have a 10 year old computer because I can't afford better. I have a 20 year old car because I can't afford better. I have student loans because I was told that if I "went up the food chain" and leave the low level jobs to overseas people the things would be better for me.
I am sitting in a ton of student debt with no job prospects because I did what I was told was right - more education is better. NO, I don't have a PhD in Lit - almost as bad: MBA - I was hoping to get into tech mgt and be the PHB that actually knew about tech - ya know, the PHB that techies respected because I was there.
Instead I'm told I was stupid for doing so. I was stupid for going back to school and I was a sucker.
I am told that there's something wrong with me. I am told that I wouldn't be unemployed if I had the "skills".
Really?
Well folks, Java, C++,C,SQL, Windows 32/MFC.WPF,C#, Linux, Unix, OS/2 are all worthless skills! Because those are what I have.
Wiling to have a book FedEx'ed from Amazon to cram to learn a new skill that the mgt decided to use after you were hired isn't worth anything.
No, hiring mangers want you to know everything before hand.
You know, I looked at current salaries and they're at about 70K for most higher level developers these days. Back in '99, those same developers were getting over 100K.
Recently some friends of mine who are C++ guys jumped on jobs that paid 60K+ here in Metro Atl. They were making almost 100K at their previous job. But with all these H1Bs and others being imported, pay has been depressed and they got bills to pay - like student loans for that BSCS they paid through the nose for so that they could have job security.
And in the meantime, Bill gates and Mark Fucker - Zuckerberg are begging kids to learn programming.
I'm beginning to understand why people have become revolutionaries and followed some asshole who screwed everyone over after they took power - like Castro.
Please excuse the grammar and spelling errors: I'm in a rage.