Debugging Indian Computer Programmers 1248
| Debugging Indian Computer Programmers: Dude, Did I Steal Your Job? | |
| author | N. Sivakumar |
| pages | 189 |
| publisher | Divine Tree |
| rating | 6 |
| reviewer | timothy |
| ISBN | 0975514008 |
| summary | The other side of the H1-B system; the mixed experiences and positive effects of Indian immigrant programmers |
Life as an immigrant programmer is full of culture shocks both minor and major (would you know the first time around how to dress when flying from Bombay to Pittsburgh via Los Angeles, in winter?), and much of the book is devoted to outlining some of the shocks that Indian programmers face, even in immigrant-happy America. Buying a car to rely on for daily transport -- on American highways, no less -- is just one of the things many programmers like Sivakumar have to face shortly after arriving; he explains that one of the reasons certain makes of car (chiefly Japanese) are popular among newly arrived H1-B workers is that their expected resale value is high. When your employment is at the mercy of a short-term visa, and the cooperation of a sponsoring company, similar logic informs all kinds of decisions.
The "Did I steal your job?" in the title is the real question raised by this book: Sivakumar rallies evidence that the answer is a resounding No. Despite the vitriol raised by H1-B visa holders (and the H1-B program itself), he argues that the immigrant workers drawing ire from many Americans (who see the immigrants as encroaching unfairly on "their" jobs) not only contribute real money -- billions of dollars -- to the U.S. economy, but are one of the reasons that the U.S. high-tech industry is as successful as it is and has been.
He asks pointedly "[W]hy do some modern Americans (of course, a small percentage) want only those immigrant programmers and IT workers who came during recent times to go back home, yet tend to forget that their parents or grandparents were immigrants too?"Sivakumar's argument has three pillars. First, that high-tech immigrants (including H1-B holders) are one of the key ingredients in the continuing success of many American companies. These aren't foreign workers who simply happen to land jobs in the U.S.; each H1-B visa holder has at least 16 years (often more) of formal education, and an American company sponsoring his or her application. (That education usually comes "free" to U.S. taxpayers, he notes, not at the expense of public school budgets or student loan subsidies.) Sivakumar contrasts both the generous immigrant policies and world-leading software industry of the U.S. with the policies and software industries of Europe, which tend to be more restrictive and less successful, respectively.
The second part of his argument is that H1-B immigrants, though motivated by a desire to improve their own lives, end up contributing disproportionately to the U.S. economy -- something Americans should be happy about, not resentful. Indian programmers in particular end up spending much of their salary on necessary (and less necessary) material goods both for their personal use and as socially obligated gifts to family members, increasing the retail take of U.S. companies from AT&T to the local car dealer.
More significantly, H1-B workers, as legal immigrants to the U.S., have the dubious privilege of paying the same taxes as other Americans (and more than most), with a far smaller chance of reaping their benefits. Most are single, and send no children to the U.S. schools they help underwrite, and most will never collect on the Social Security system or medical-care systems their payroll taxes help prop up.
Third, Sivakumar points out that Indian immigrants are often among the inventive and entrepreneurial class which provides jobs in the first place, citing -- besides a litany of Indian company founders and inventors -- a Berkeley study showing that in the boom years of the 1990s, "ethnic Chinese and Indian immigrants started nearly 25% of the high-tech start-ups in [Silicon] Valley." That's nearly 3000 companies, employing on the order of 100,000 people. The market capitalization of Indian-founded or -run U.S.-based companies is nearly half a trillion dollars. Job creation is an economic complex that requires funding and expertise, and Indian and other immigrants contribute to -- not subtract from -- the creation of jobs for other Americans.
Sivakumar is polite, almost apologetic at times -- and more optimistic than some of the things he's experienced as a hired-gun programmer might lead you to expect. Though he maintains that the book is not an autobiography, many of the experiences in it are things he himself encountered; some of them are funny, others either frightening or simply sad. In particular, he makes note of one place that programmers and other tech workers are likely to run into "racially abusive" hostility -- namely, Internet message boards. As he puts it,
"You meet these people every day of your life, and they probably would smile at you at your workplace or even would greet you. They show their real face in those discussion forums. These online discussion forums are great tools for those who want to hide themselves from the public but would like to spew their venom."
Given the hostility faced online and (less often) in real life, sometimes Sivakumar's politeness goes what struck me as too far; I was surprised to read his conciliatory advice to Indians treated suspiciously on the basis of their skin color or accent in the panic-prone modern America to "please accept it," rather than to bristle. That might be pragmatic and sensible advice, but America will be a better place when it's unnecessary.
This book makes no pretense of being an authoritative work on cultural differences, but Sivakumar does delve into a few of the gaps between American and Indian aesthetics, habits, and mores. Sexually explicit entertainment is far more accessible in the U.S. than in much of the world, and in India in particular; he labels the usually short-lived exploration by some new immigrants of the seedier side of American entertainment "The X-Rated Movie Syndrome." On a different note, vegetarian food isn't easy to find in company cafeterias, which means for many Indian programmers one of many small barriers to acceptance by their coworkers, because they can't simply order off the menu at a company cafeteria.Even trivial aspects of daily life are sometimes imbued with cultural meaning: after being advised by a friend to "walk smart" (that is, confidently, not quietly or humbly) along company corridors, he writes "It sounded true to me, and I was prepared for my next American adventure. 'Alright, I am going to walk straight and smart as of tomorrow!' I tried recently only to have my colleagues comment that I walk like President Bush."
Despite a casual style and sometimes distracting use of jargon ("Dude" is funnier in the title than when it appears several times in the text), the content of Debugging is serious. Sivakumar and other immigrant programmers are not abstractions or hypotheticals: they're designing processors, programming systems of all scales, and bringing the results of high-end education worldwide to places like Palo Alto, New York and Austin. They're also facing an anti-immigrant backlash that ranges from merely spiteful (the usual) to actually violent (thankfully uncommon). Sivakumar's experience in the U.S. isn't wholly negative -- he's quick to point out otherwise -- but includes cavalier treatment from co-workers and landlords, and even harassment from a flag-waving driver gesturing obscenely (and blocking his car) on the streets of New Jersey. That's the sort of experience most light-skinned, native-born Americans are lucky not to face on a daily basis.
Losing friends and neighbors to the terror attacks of 2001 isn't something that happened only to American citizens, and Sivakumar was touched by both; five residents of his New Jersey apartment complex were killed by those attacks, along with the wife of a friend. In this and other aspects of life in America, he justifiably considers himself a part of the U.S. high-tech economy, not a mere visitor, and uses the second person when talking about the American software industry specifically. If you're an American by birth, realize that Sivakumar is an American by choice (even if he has ties and loyalties to both India and Sri Lanka besides), whatever his visa status says.
This is also a funny book, in parts -- in particular, Sivakumar's experiences ordering lunch in an American company cafeteria made me laugh. (Pronouncing "milk" with an emphasis on the "l" rather than the "i" is a matter of spoken convention, after all, not a rule of nature -- but a short "i" will get you a carton of milk faster in an American company cafeteria). The author's graceful levity is welcome, and it helps to defuse the natural anger I felt at some of the odious treatment he describes.
The writing is understandable throughout, but Sivakumar is clearly a programmer writing, rather than a writer who happens to also be a programmer; much of the text is awkwardly phrased, and dotted with avoidable errors in spelling or diction. (One that stuck out: in more than one place, the name of fellow H1-B immigrant Linus Torvalds is rendered "Linus Travolds.") The chronology of Sivakumar's own story is not always clear, either; he mentions offhandedly at one point early on that "[b]y the way, my wife had come from India and joined me by then"; a clearer timeline would help in unifying the anecdotes which make up much of the book.
Sivakumar is also guilty in places of wielding the same kind of broad brush he sees being used to paint Indian programmers; he provides cultural sketches of several other groups that may be meant merely as casual observations rather than any sort of final word, but end up doing the same disservice as any other stereotype. (Of his first trip through customs, he says "That was the first time I ever talked to an African American. I never understood their accent even in the movies." This kind of glib generalization doesn't advance the cause of the book; often "they" are hard to characterize so blithely, no matter which "they" is at issue.)
However, take these complaints with a grain of salt: it would be easy to concentrate on the less-than-smooth delivery -- it just wouldn't be smart. If you let the presentation distract you too much from the content, you'll miss what the book's about, which is that "there is another side to the H1-B factor." While the book has some distracting flaws, they don't subtract from its logical conclusion: immigrant programmers in the U.S. are simply human beings trying to better themselves in what's supposed to be a free society, and adding immensely to U.S. prosperity -- and they're doing so despite hostility on several fronts. If you want to understand the not-so-simple phenomenon of Indian programmers in America, don't overlook that message.
You can purchase Debugging Indian Computer Programmers: Dude, Did I Steal Your Job? directly from Divine Tree. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, carefully read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
India. (Score:4, Informative)
One detail that many Americans don't really understand, is that there are essentially three careers that are considered to be more desirable than all others: Doctor, Engineer, and Computer Programmer. In some circles, you are not successful if you are not, or don't have a son, in one of these professions. This concept is as foreign to Americans as the idea of arranged marriage (which is still very much alive among Indians, even those living and working in the US!).
There is a good reason India happens to be the place where the computer programming jobs go! In the US, it's looked at as something significantly less important than being one of the three top careers.
The Indo in "Indo-European" (Score:0, Informative)
in the phrase "Indo-European people and languages".
Even the nazis spoke Hindi on purpose for that
very reason. 'swastika', 'shubhtika', 'laltika'
'arya', 'varna' etc are all Hindo words and
Hinduism by definition is the Aryan religion (the
term is defined in the holy hindu book 'Rig Veda').
English itself is descended from the same language
tree as PIA (Proto Indo Aryan) i.e, Sanskrit/Hindi.
Not only is there no culture shock but the entire
"western" culture IS BASED ON indian culture
(latin and greek are both descended from Proto
Sanskrit). 'soma' and 'kama' (liquor and porn)
are Aryan religious concepts.
All Hindu temples (about a billion of them),
weddings, ceremonies, festivals and decorations
use the holy swastika. Buddhists and Jains do
so too (since both Gautum Buddha and the founder
of Jainism were Hindu).
Re:I could be mistaken, but... (Score:3, Informative)
Won't purchase the book... (Score:3, Informative)
... don't need to. The fact of the matter is that with the job boom in India, they get on-the-job training on positions that have been outsourced. Once they reach a level of expertise, they come here to take the jobs that have yet to be outsourced.
These jobs could have been filled by US citizens, but the fact of the matter is that employers don't want to spend the money to train them. What you end up with is a large group of unemployed CS grads with a lot of theoretical knowledge but no practical experience, and that will put you on the fast track for a manager's position at McDonalds.
I used to be a headhunter until recently (long story... graduated during the tech bust), and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the inclusion of H1s in this marketplace has lowered the standards of production and has lowered the wages and rates that American citizens can expect. Many managers have complained to me about the poorly documented crap that they have gotten from H1 shops, only to balk when they hear what the going rates are for American labor.
Repeat after me (Score:2, Informative)
Repeat after me; H1-B != immigration
Immigrants and Science (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Immigrants (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Most of the hostility to the H1B program (Score:3, Informative)
I couldn't say much about the indentured servant aspect either, but with her credentials, I find it very difficult to think that she would have trouble finding another employer to cover the relatively insignificant filing fees for the visa.
Again - I'm definitely not an expert on the issue but my experience as an observer is that it isn't entirely bad.
Re:Got to agree... (Score:3, Informative)
When we allow all these H1-B visas while there's already a glut of programmers that only drives down salaries and makes more people unemployed. That's good for corporations, but terrible for programmers/admins. And guess who gives more money to campaigns, has the most lobyiest, etc? It's not the programmers.
Re:I could be mistaken, but... (Score:3, Informative)
A local church offered me $12/hour to do IT work. The woman I spoke to was apologetic for the low wage, but she said there'd be fresh cookies and lemonade.
Day laborers get $15/hour around here.
A couple of friends of mine made $20/hour cleaning houses when they couldn't find programming work.
I could do algebra tutoring for $20/hour (my girlfriend is doing this now).
Freelance spyware removal can get you $25-$50/hour, depending on how well you hustle.
There are so many other things I'd do besides programming if the only coding job I could find paid $10/hour.
Re:Short-sighted argument. (Score:1, Informative)
http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/foreign/h-1
Also one of the reasons I think many foreign workers are employed is bacause of the higher degrees. Personaly my wage is higher than the prevailing wage and I am a H1B worker.
My manager said he spends more money on me (when he can hire someone with lesser degree and pay him less) because it makes his department look good and buys him more crediblity.
Re:Immigrants (Score:5, Informative)
The prefered process for skilled workers to immigrate to US is to obtain labor certification and H1b visa first, then after 6 months of stay apply for a state and then federal labor certification for an employer sponsored green card. Once that is approved (which means there were at least two market studies done at the point to prove you are not "stealing" jobs someone else could do), only then you can apply on I-485 for permanent residency.
Re:The exploitation is in the J1 program, not H1B (Score:2, Informative)
The key is that they are willing to work longer. This does not mean they are indentured servants.
The point I was making was to show that H1Bs are attractive to employers for reasons beyond a simple cash equation. If cash were the only issue, why not just get interns to do the job? They cost a lot less and work part-time, so there's no need for benefits.
And to address the question of abuse, you have to look at each case and ask if the individual involved got the deal they signed up for. In the case of many J1s I know, the answer is yes -- the wage, costs, and living conditions were fairly presented to them before they agreed to the position and before they bought tickets and paid applicable fees. In the case of the kids from Virginia, they did not get the deal they were promised, and all the ones I met in late-June left the hotel and arranged different J1 jobs as soon as they got their Social Security Numbers.
Everyone I know here on an H1B got exactly what they signed up for, and in some cases a better deal. They are making good money, saving cash for their return (of 12 H1Bs I know from central Europe, all but one are planning to return home after their three years), and gaining the kind of experience they simply couldn't get at home.
At the same time, they are contributing to the companies where they work and to their communities. I don't see exploitaion, and I don't see how this is anything but a win-win situation.
Better - no they're not (Score:1, Informative)
Of course, I've lost jobs to cheaper, less qualified developers of all nationalities too.
Largely because employers are penny wise and pound foolish. Headcount, that's what matters, not net brain power.
Re:Short-sighted argument. (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Immigrants (Score:4, Informative)
I symphathize with all unemployed Americans who are actively looking for a job - being unemployed is terrible. However, don't take it out on the immigrants - if you are competing with an H1-B applicant as a U.S. citizen, you have huge advantages. I will just outline the two biggest:
1) It's a big, big hassle for a company to go through the H1-B process. It takes time and money, and dealing with lawyers. On top of that, you are uncertain if it will work. If a company can avoid that, they will.
2) An employee on H1-B is required to receive the "median" salary for his / her profession. I know because i was affected - on my first job 7 years ago, my employer had to increase my salary in order to meet the criteria (to something like $54k which was not too shabby back then).
Whereas, had i been an american, they could - and would - have just paid me less money.
=> if you want to be dumping prices, you can only do it with U.S. citizen employess. Ironic, but true.
Re:As a Canadian having worked in the US... (Score:2, Informative)
I left for a better place in Europe which is the headquarters of the largest mobile phone company after taking a paycut. Here my job is not tied to my visa. I have a 'work resident permit' for a certain duration and I am free to move around to any job I want during that.
After 4 years I can apply to become a permanent resident and at the end of six, I can become a citizen if I choose to.
Why the hell is the H1B visa tied to an employer? And then you add quotas! It's the system that is encouraging slavery to a job and thus cheap labor.
But the whole thing is easily abused... (Score:5, Informative)
HR runs it past the immigration lawyer and they write up a job description which specifies exactly Bob's years of education, exactly Bob's project experience and probably Bob's shoe color and zodiac sign. They then post that job description at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the leopard". Oh. They also post it on our web site
Some time later, they regrettably couldn't fill the job with anyone local, so they hire Bob. No, this isn't speculation. I've seen it happen a dozen times in the past few years. It's a science now. It's not just Bob from China, either. There are assorted European countries we hit up too and one place in the Middle East.
Again, I like most of the people we hire this way, but it's a mockery of the process...and I strongly suspect a lot of companies do it the same way. Find H1b candidate first, fail to fill position with existing worker second, click the 'import' button.
Re:Immigrants (Score:3, Informative)
Whereas the IRA are just completely indiscriminate, and blow people up simply for being British? That's obvioualy so much better. Having been caught by the blast (though fortunatly not injured) of the Canary Wharf bomb, I can tell you it's not much fun...
Re:Immigrants (Score:3, Informative)
A true libertarian does not believe that anyone (including himself, including government) should posesses the "right" to initiate force as a means to an end. The moment he chose to adopt the principle of force, and abandon the principle of voluntary association, was the moment he stopped being a libertarian.
Libertarianism is founded on peaceful, voluntary interaction. There is nothing peaceful or voluntary about what happened there.
Re:Most of the hostility to the H1B program (Score:3, Informative)
The worst aspect of the H1B program is that it is not an imigration program but nearly a form of indentured servitude. The visa holder is often at the mercy of the sponsor, not free to switch jobs easily, and facing deportation once his visa expires. This may be used by corporations to hold down wages and dissent.
That's funny - I'm a US citizen working in the US in the software industry, and my wages and dissent are held down by the threat of immigrants (H1B or other) and outsourcing. Of course, when software engineers become completely unemployable in the US, I won't be deported to India (where I could likely find work, if they'd let me), I'll just be unemployed.
Re:Immigrants (Score:1, Informative)
2) The law says they must get the prevailing wage but this law is simply not followed. The same companies that import the foreign workers have found loopholes in the law to allow them to be paid dirt. I have worked with many H1B foreign workers and some of them have become my friends. Their biggest complaints are that they are not being paid the same as the American workers and that they have been told that if they cause problems for their consulting company (aka b@tch about the lack of pay) their visa sponsorship will be withdrawn and they will be sent home.