Trump's Next Immigration Move To Affect H-1B Visas; Require Tech Companies To Try To Hire Americans First: Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)

AdamnSelene writes: A report in Bloomberg describes a draft executive order that will hit the tech industry hard and potentially change the way those companies recruit workers from abroad. The H-1B, L-1, E-2, and B1 work visa programs would be targeted by requiring companies to prioritize higher-paid immigrant workers over lower-paid workers. In addition, the order will impose statistical reporting requirements on tech companies who sponsor workers under these programs. The order is expected to impact STEM workers from India the most. Penguinisto adds: If (perhaps when) the president follows through, his next move could limit or at least seriously alter the way H-1B visas are distributed, putting U.S. citizens at a higher priority, and possibly restricting H1-B visas tighter. From the article: "If implemented, the reforms could shift the way American companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Apple recruit talent and force wholesale changes at Indian companies such as Infosys and Wipro. Businesses would have to try to hire Americans first and if they recruit foreign workers, priority would be given to the most highly paid. "Our country's immigration policies should be designed and implemented to serve, first and foremost, the U.S. national interest," the draft proposal reads, according to a copy reviewed by Bloomberg. "Visa programs for foreign workers should be administered in a manner that protects the civil rights of American workers and current lawful residents, and that prioritizes the protection of American workers -- our forgotten working people -- and the jobs they hold."

Comments

Re:OK, help me out...

[TheGratefulNet]

its not racist when you can SEE with your own lying eyes that the bay area companies (I live here) are going out of their way to hire folks from india and china, first. the ONLY reason they do this is for money and servitude reasons.

when I interview and everyone on the table is indian, I can tell that there is a total loss of BALANCE in racial and cultural mix. the bay area is very india-populated but not THAT much that 99% of the folks I talk to in every single interview are all indian, with occasional chinese.

it simply does not represent the population mix and that's obvious to anyone who spends even a week here.

Re:OK, help me out...

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting you should say that. Looks like Reagan had an unusually low percentage of kept promises compared to other presidents.

But you know, they didn't call him the teflon president for nothing. The way his legend has grown over the years, seems like embalming fluid must have been fortified with teflon.

Fired after training three H1Bs

[Lokubanda]

I worked for Microsoft north of 15 years. My division hired something like 70 new H1Bs this year alone (all straight out college). I was one of the ones who trained three new hires. My job was gone in the next round of layoffs. Any company has massive layoffs should be mandated to first atleast consider the laid off staff before getting H1Bs. BTW, as an older and experienced person I command more than the younger H1Bs. It is baloney that the companies cant find talent locally. It is just the companies do not want to pay for it. BTW, I am of Indian ancestory.

What in the blue hell are you talking about

[NotSoHeavyD3]

Guess what. Technology workers like you and me aren't immune to the same damn laws of capitalism. Businesses will find a way to reduce costs and punch up their profits, no matter what populist measures are passed by the politicians.

I guess you missed it. The big bitch session about H1B's is that it isn't capitalism, it's cronyism. It's using government to interfere with the market by letting business use effectively indentured servants. They bring people in that don't have the knowledge about how much the job is actually worth, suppressing wages. Then when they find out they're getting screwed just like US citizens they have no recourse since if they raise a stink they lose their status and have to go back while the company gets yet another sucker. If this was capitalism then the foreign candidates would just work for somebody else that actually paid them what they're worth but with the H1B program they're prevented from taking any action. But hey, it's not as though this is the only time a company thought that using cronyism is a hell of a lot better deal than actual capitalism.