H-1B Visas Proving Lucrative For Engineers, Dev Leads

Nerval's Lobster (2598977) writes Ever wanted to know how much H-1B holders make per year? Developer Swizec Teller, who is about to apply for an H-1B visa, took data from the U.S. Department of Labor and visualized it in a series of graphs that break down H-1B salaries on a state-by-state basis. Teller found that the average engineer with an H-1B makes $87,000 a year, a good deal higher than developers ($74,000) and programmers ($61,000) with the same visa. ("Don't call yourself a programmer," he half-joked on Twitter.) Architects, consultants, managers, administrators, and leads with H-1Bs can likewise expect six-figure annual salaries, depending on the state and company. Teller's site is well worth checking out for the interactive graphs, which he built with React and D3.js. The debate over H-1Bs is an emotional one for many tech pros, and research into the visa's true impact on the U.S. labor market wasn't helped by the U.S. Department of Labor's recent decision to destroy H-1B records after five years. "These are the only publicly available records for researchers to analyze on the demand by employers for H-1B visas with detail information on work locations," Neil Ruiz, who researches visa issues for The Brookings Institution, told Computerworld after the new policy was announced in late 2014.

Comments

I have an H1-B employee

[Anonymous Coward]

He started on a TN visa, recruited from an engineering school in Mexico. After a year he was transitioned to an H1-B visa, where he still is.

You know, there may be unemployed citizens or green card holders with engineering degrees, but anyone as good as this employee would already be employed. He's imaginative, driven, and skilled. I wish the process to get him (and his wife, who was allowed to move here but isn't allowed to work) a green card wasn't so arduous.

The H1-B debate seems to be about "hiring Americans who need jobs over foreigners". I don't want to work with someone hired to fill a quota, whether that quota is "unemployable American who managed to get an engineering degree" or otherwise. There are plenty of engineering jobs out there for the competent, with room to spare for those who need visas.

Re:I have an H1-B employee

[FerociousFerret]

Not sure about getting abused, but it certainly drives down the earning potential in the field. I have full time position, but was applying for a new opportunity. The position was listed with high requirements and experience. I fit the job description almost perfectly. When it came to discussing salary, they were offering $40k less than I currently make and without the high level of benefits I currently have. After I expressed disappointment in the salary for what was advertised as a highly experienced position, the recruiter said that their client was hoping to get an H1B visa person and the rate they quoted me was the going rate.

Canadians

[iONiUM]

Everyone seems to imagine those holding H1-B visas to be from poor countries who are ready to work 12 hours a day as a slave to avoid being shipped "back to the slums."

As a Canadian, I've been offered over the years 2 separate jobs in the US with the offer to do it through a H1-B visa. Many of my ex-co-workers took up this offer at one point and have since moved to the US. I have no idea if they'll ever move back.

The salary offered through both of my offers were very competitive, and I only turned them down because I disagree with a lot of the way the US is run and prefer Canada, and the extra amount offered wasn't enough to make me want to leave.

Re:Canadians

[Anonymous Coward]

I wanted to confirm and add to this.
I'm an engineer in a Fortune 100 company and make a decent 6 digit salary on a H1B visa.
Are there local engineers who are smarter than me? Sure.
However, the truth is that I'm better than the average local engineer
I have never worked more than 50 hours in a week (few years in this company already). Mostly it's 40-45 hours per week.
I wouldn't be here if it required working 12 hours a day at a substandard pay.
There are people who are on H1B visa for the right reasons and make more than the average (source: my salary compared to Glassdoor reports and few other friends who confide in me)

I think the H1B bias stems from the fact that about 50-60% of those visas end up being abused. The abuse needs to end, not the H1B visa.

Re:Canadians

[Anonymous Coward]

Everyone seems to imagine those holding H1-B visas to be from poor countries who are ready to work 12 hours a day as a slave to avoid being shipped "back to the slums."

I worked with some very talented engineers from Paris, hardly a third world slum. Our boss was quick to remind them that he controlled their residency, especially when deadlines were looming. "It's 11PM. We need some sleep." "If working here is too fast paced, I'm sure you'd be more relaxed back in France." Exile to Paris isn't exactly punishment, but it's a pretty bad deal when you've made friends, have a home, maybe started a relationship, and otherwise don't want to be kicked out of the country on a day's notice.

Sounds like you were lucky with a good boss. I've witnessed firsthand how a bad boss can let power go to his head.

Re:H-1B Visas Proving Awful For Americans

[Penguinisto]

I think it's even worse than that. The survey likely doesn't show what the individuals who got their H1-B's through Tata and Infosys actually get paid, instead showing what the tech corp paid agencies like Infosys or Tata instead for a given individual. Contractors are contractors, after all - the rate paid to the contracting agency for a guy is way more than the guy himself will ever see. A corp can pay a rate of $50/hr to the agency (be it US or foreign), but the guy in the seat is lucky to see $30/hr of that, before taxes. Tata and Infosys devour the majority of H1-B visas, so it stands to reason that maybe they should be more specific on who they're surveying.

TL;DR: I may be wrong, but I suspect that the survey is bullshit, and that the reality is that the individual more often than not gets paid slave wages, while the tech company can still happily report paying "industry standard", since they pay that "average" rate to the agency.

I could be wrong, but given greed...