The H-1B program is nothing but a corporate welfare program plain and simple. I have to laugh when I read that there are still people that believe the politicians when they spread the equine fertilizer that you can only get H-1B visa workers if there are no Citizens or green card holders able to do the work. This is patently false! I own a software development firm and there is not a week go by that one of the many "insourcing" firms does not contact me with the pitch for getting visa holders to replace my "overly well paid" developers. Step 1 - contract out your development to a specialized firm and now you can lay off EVERYONE with no questions asked. Step 2 - offer your most talented former employees temporary contracts to train the new H-1B employees (technically of the consulting firm) to do their former jobs. Step 3 - bank tons of extra money because you don't have to pay nearly as much and you aren't on the hook for benefits. The contracting firm will typically be from another city and won't have to advertise locally to fill the jobs. In my case, small company with 10-14 employees depending on orders, I can save nearly 50% plus I don't have employees who expect time off or other benefits. If they complain I let them go (technically they are the employees of the consultant but I can fire on a whim) and their visa (read: right to live in the US) is gone.
What is really damaging in the long term about companies (my never will) that do this is that the people just getting into the field can't get entry level jobs, those jobs all go to the visa holders or the job actually gets sent to India (or the Phillipines or...). Without entry level jobs how are people going to grow into top talent? It is easy to find a script jockey who can write simple utilities to sort data or create reports but it is getting harder and harder to find truely great coders who can write elegant efficient code because folks in DC put the rest of the world in front of them in the job line. You don't get to the point of being excellent without working in the real world and learning what works and what doesn't and this phenomenon of bringing in low skilled IT from other countries is making that pretty near impossible. But watch the politicians line up in front of the chamber of commerce and business round table for donations and you can predict who will year in and year out say that we don't have enough IT workers and need more H-1B visas.
Yes thank you for sharing this. I want to add in a perspective that hasn't been discussed in all there discussions yet-
the highly skilled foreign tech worker
The kind like the instagram co founder who had such issues getting a visa to finish working. The kind like all of the students graduating from top tech programs such as Stanford or MIT and then this top talent is shipped back home because they did not win the visa lottery. The kind, like my husband, who are extremely successful in their fields in their countries and want to bring their talent to the states (silicon valley tech scene is quite some steps up form Austria..), turn down multiple job offers (with salaries of 150k plus) such as
Amazon- chose a company to go with (because these companies are looking for good tech workers and willing to pay them) and then did not get to start said great job because of the H1B visa lottery (we were not picked).
Why is such an important program that is supposed to enable highly skilled, entrepreneurial, US advanced degree holding workers to enter and stay in the US such a mess? Why is it even a lottery when these people have job offers?
IT consultancy firms. Firms which sponsor cheap labor from India (oftentimes letting these workers pay them to sponsor them!! Highly illegal! These workers will also put in multiple entries so as to have a better shot) by the thousands. My husband even got cold e-mails from IT consultancy firms offering to sponsor his H1B just based on his linked in. They offer salaries which probably sound good to someone from a third world country, but not to someone who has actually been to SF! But hey, it's
technically an entry level salary so it's allowed. Obviously he told them where they could go. The work offered was temporary contractual work. This was not a set up for an immigrant that would stay and contribute to the country in a significant way (the idea of the H1B program no?), no no. It was corporate welfare.
Meanwhile, the legit US tech companies: FB, Google, etc. all have built or are building offices in Europe so that their tech hires/ current workers (yes! that happens!) have a place where they can still work of the company because they are growing too fast and need their skilled workers! Instead of expanding a US office as the company grows, the work goes overseas.
The Europe office of my husband's company opens this week. Only 20% of the employees they applied for visas for got them. One was even an employee that had studied in the US and was doing an internship there and is now getting sent home. Can try again in a year.
It's ridiculous and infuriating. I buy local as much as possible here at home. I support local jobs and growing local businesses- it is best for me in the long run. I feel for all of my American friends as the country is missing out on top talent and shooting itself in the foot with all of the abuse of the H1B program going on. Disney should be ashamed for being a part of it. Walt is certainly turning in his grave. We will probably sell our stock.
