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How Outsourcing Companies Are Gaming the H-1B Visa System (nytimes.com)
New submitter shakah writes: The NY Times has a straightforward summary of how the H-1B Visa system is being gamed by companies inside and outside of the United States. Particularly interesting for me was their clarification on the argument that "VISA holders have to make prevailing wages, so they won't depress wages." Quoting: "Under federal rules, employers like TCS, Infosys and Wipro that have large numbers of H-1B workers in the United States are required to declare that they will not displace American workers. But the companies are exempt from that requirement if the H-1B workers are paid at least $60,000 a year. H-1B workers at outsourcing firms often receive wages at or slightly above $60,000, below what skilled American technology professionals tend to earn, so those firms can offer services to American companies at a lower cost, undercutting American workers."
Companies don't want that, which is why the H1Bs work the way they do ... because that's what industry wanted.
If they're using an H1B to fill jobs they can't find people for, wages should be going up. Instead they're bringing in cheaper labor to drive down American salaries and displace Americans.
If those people had any ability to fight back or demand more, they just might. This way they're exactly what they're supposed to be .. cheap labor with fewer rights.
Seriously, this didn't happen by accident. It was bought and paid for by industry.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Have random audits to confirm people are following the rules. Enforce those rules.
Sure, but that requires *more* government -- to enforce those rules and punishments -- and, as we all know, that would be bad and a "job killer", unlike easy access to cheap, foreign H-1B workers ... oh, wait.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
As there is currently more visa applications than available visas, the solution can be very simple. Instead of lottery as it is done now, I would simply give visas to companies that plan to pay the highest salary. That would make companies to raise salaries if they really need applicants. That would also solve problems with definition of "prevailing wage" etc.
No sig today.