PetterJhon
New Member
Hello everyone,,
Let me just clarify that I don't support the pig in the WH and am not anti-immigration.
But as a software engineer who has worked in multiple industries, I have numerous experiences working with H1Bs, and can safely conclude that yes, America should retain the H1B and expand the quota and improve workers' rights - but at the same time, the H1B is severely abused and those abuses need to be stopped.
In tech companies which actually create user-facing products and services, such as Microsoft and Google, my observation is that the H1B developers employed there are not taking anything away from US citizens, and are making well over $100k - even if they were being paid less than US citizens (which they're not), $100k is well above the median wage in the US. Plus these H1B workers are pretty damn smart. These types of development jobs truly require the best and brightest, and when you look at enrolment in the STEM programs of top American universities, you see that international students make up a disproportionately large share. Denying them the H1B is not smart.
On the other hand, in companies that don't use their developers for final products/services, e.g. internal IT tools for telecoms and banks, especially outside SF/NYC/Seattle/Boston, the H1B picture is completely different. In this scenario, it's not surprising to see H1Bs being the majority of the staff. They aren't even employed full-time - most are actually contractors from companies like Tata Consultancy Services. They often don't speak English fluently (and have terrible grammar in their emails) and their development skills range from absolute garbage to barely acceptable. With the salary floor for H1B being a paltry $60k, it's also obvious that they're being used to reduce costs - especially since all they do is support work and they don't directly create anything of value for the company. Working with them can be quite frustrating, even if they're actually good people, due to communication barriers and sheer lack of technical skill. Plus, many of these people are seeking green cards - the wait times now being over 10 years for Indian and Chinese citizens - so they get treated like s**t and overworked, since they can't just turn around and quit without forfeiting their best shot at a green card.
And since Indian contracting firms like Tata FLOOD the H1B application pool, their underpaid contractors win most of the visas, while talented people who MS and Google could use (and pay well) get left in the dust.
How would you solve this? It's simple - raise the salary floor to $100k, and BLACKLIST these contracting firms. H1Bs should only be for jobs that directly create a product or service of value. Even if the number of visas isn't increased, these two very simple steps would make our top-tier tech companies very happy, while also addressing concerns that the H1B program is taking away American jobs.
Let me just clarify that I don't support the pig in the WH and am not anti-immigration.
But as a software engineer who has worked in multiple industries, I have numerous experiences working with H1Bs, and can safely conclude that yes, America should retain the H1B and expand the quota and improve workers' rights - but at the same time, the H1B is severely abused and those abuses need to be stopped.
In tech companies which actually create user-facing products and services, such as Microsoft and Google, my observation is that the H1B developers employed there are not taking anything away from US citizens, and are making well over $100k - even if they were being paid less than US citizens (which they're not), $100k is well above the median wage in the US. Plus these H1B workers are pretty damn smart. These types of development jobs truly require the best and brightest, and when you look at enrolment in the STEM programs of top American universities, you see that international students make up a disproportionately large share. Denying them the H1B is not smart.
On the other hand, in companies that don't use their developers for final products/services, e.g. internal IT tools for telecoms and banks, especially outside SF/NYC/Seattle/Boston, the H1B picture is completely different. In this scenario, it's not surprising to see H1Bs being the majority of the staff. They aren't even employed full-time - most are actually contractors from companies like Tata Consultancy Services. They often don't speak English fluently (and have terrible grammar in their emails) and their development skills range from absolute garbage to barely acceptable. With the salary floor for H1B being a paltry $60k, it's also obvious that they're being used to reduce costs - especially since all they do is support work and they don't directly create anything of value for the company. Working with them can be quite frustrating, even if they're actually good people, due to communication barriers and sheer lack of technical skill. Plus, many of these people are seeking green cards - the wait times now being over 10 years for Indian and Chinese citizens - so they get treated like s**t and overworked, since they can't just turn around and quit without forfeiting their best shot at a green card.
And since Indian contracting firms like Tata FLOOD the H1B application pool, their underpaid contractors win most of the visas, while talented people who MS and Google could use (and pay well) get left in the dust.
How would you solve this? It's simple - raise the salary floor to $100k, and BLACKLIST these contracting firms. H1Bs should only be for jobs that directly create a product or service of value. Even if the number of visas isn't increased, these two very simple steps would make our top-tier tech companies very happy, while also addressing concerns that the H1B program is taking away American jobs.