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Skilled Foreign Workers Treated as Indentured Servants
theodp writes: A year-long investigation by NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit and The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) raises questions about the H-1B visa program. In a five-part story that includes a mini-graphic novel called Techsploitation, CIR describes how the system rewards job brokers who steal wages and entrap Indian tech workers in the U.S., including the awarding of half a billion dollars in Federal tech contracts to those with labor violations. "Shackling workers to their jobs," CIR found after interviewing workers and reviewing government agency and court documents, "is such an entrenched business practice that it has even spread to U.S. nationals. This bullying persists at the bottom of a complex system that supplies workers to some of America's richest and most successful companies, such as Cisco Systems Inc., Verizon and Apple Inc."
In a presumably unrelated move, the U.S. changed its H-1B record retention policy last week, declaring that records used for labor certification, whether in paper or electronic, "are temporary records and subject to destruction" after five years under the new policy. "There was no explanation for the change, and it is perplexing to researchers," reports Computerworld. "The records under threat are called Labor Condition Applications (LCA), which identify the H-1B employer, worksite, the prevailing wage, and the wage paid to the worker." Lindsay Lowell, director of policy studies at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, added: "It undermines our ability to evaluate what the government does and, in today's world, retaining electronic records like the LCA is next to costless [a full year's LCA data is less than 1 GB]." President Obama, by the way, is expected to use his executive authority to expand the H-1B program after the midterm elections.
In a presumably unrelated move, the U.S. changed its H-1B record retention policy last week, declaring that records used for labor certification, whether in paper or electronic, "are temporary records and subject to destruction" after five years under the new policy. "There was no explanation for the change, and it is perplexing to researchers," reports Computerworld. "The records under threat are called Labor Condition Applications (LCA), which identify the H-1B employer, worksite, the prevailing wage, and the wage paid to the worker." Lindsay Lowell, director of policy studies at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, added: "It undermines our ability to evaluate what the government does and, in today's world, retaining electronic records like the LCA is next to costless [a full year's LCA data is less than 1 GB]." President Obama, by the way, is expected to use his executive authority to expand the H-1B program after the midterm elections.
The best thing to do is replace the H-1B visas that are tied to a specific employer and make them a general limited time employment visa.
If the employers say there's a specific need for more workers in a field then the govt can grant a few more of the new visas to those wishing to travel to the US.
This would mean employers would be have to pay the going wage to the newcomers, albeit with the downward pressures on pay that would come from an increased worker pool.
I could be crazy tho.
NOTE: All of the above is the view of a simple rustic Northern Irishman with no desire to move to the US. Well, mebbe somewhere with snowboarding. Seriously, I live farther north than Vancouver for fuck sake, but all winter is just rain and wind. An no. I'm not going to Scotland. Our whiskey is better. If i wanted to drink bog water i'd just drink bog water.
Hmmm... from my salary, which is about 15% off of what the average InfoSec guy with 20yrs of great experience can draw in the Bay area. I wonder at your supposition. In fact, I may spend the day wandering around my 75acres of well wooded land, or perhaps I'll ponder while I watch the soybean farmer that leases the other 75 acres is doing, or perhaps while I wander about my 4600 sqft home...
I lived in SoCal for 10 yrs. My wife is from the West Coast. I make a good living, and live a good life. Every now and then I get a nice offer from some west coast or other company to move and take up the urban life style. We consider it, and then pass. You can't trade knowing the people in your farmer's market by name, having conversations with the local coffee shop about roasting methods over a cigar and whiskey, all while enjoying an evening in which the background noise lacks cars but more than makes up for it with owls, crickets, cicadas, whipoorwills, doves, and all manner of other creatures.
When we want to go to the city... We drive and stay a week, or a weekend. We figure that the money we save on the home (my payments on a 30 yr note on the above property are just above 1100/mo insurance and tax included) and the time on the commute can be used on mini-vacations to the city.
There are things that we miss (an excellent dance school) but not a lot. We have a tutor that teaches my children Mandarin, and piano. They swim at the Y a few times a week, play indoor soccer on weekends. My wife acts in the local theatre companies (one of which is one of the longest continuously running theatre companies in the country). I can still go to the local gaming store and hang out with comic book nerds...
So... If you're pissed about the wage depression, you should probably look at a different profession, or another circumstance. From here, in Cali or any where else, I've never had a problem getting a good wage for the job that I do, nor have I had a problem getting offers for a damn good wage to live in the Bay, or Denver, or San Diego.
All of the above aside... The H1-B program is designed for abuse. It was designed by politicians. It falls under the same type of shit that had all computer workers classified as management/professionals to prevent hourly pay and/or overtime. The above was to point out that if you look somewhere other than the Bay, you can still build new stuff, and have a much better life. The Bay area is a technological sweatshop. Leave. When you leave, take your skills and desire to build with you. Make some other place in the country a great place to innovate. Austin is great, and not a terrible city (esp compared to the West Coast), Houston isn't bad either, lots of great places to live. When you build your customer base, move to a smaller town and enjoy your life, you only get one shot.