The problem is not with the H1-B visa program per se. Nor with the raison d'etre for it.
The root cause of the problem, the loop hole that allows Indian IT companies to ship thousands of ill educated sub-standard programmers to USA is this: USA recognizes all degrees from India as though they are the equivalent of US college degrees. But sayin ALL graduates from St Mary's College of Engineering, Middle of Nowhere, Some State, India are equal to the graduates from UCLA or MIT is just bonkers.
This examn need not be in the latest language or skill that is in fashion. Basic AP in programming level examn is enough. Of course, all degree holders from US accredited institutions should be granted exemption. This will clean up the mess to a large extent.
Another possible solution is to have foreign educational institutions apply for some kind of accreditation from some global body that shares accreditation with American institutions.
Another solution - require hires to have certifications. Perhaps even a global worker's union that issues the certification.
That creates a new problem, however, when top talent is needed when dealing with bleeding edge technologies. There's no exam or certificate for technologies that were slapped together last week.
Forcing developers to have specific degrees from specific accredited universities is a bottleneck too, disenfranchising many people that are currently working in the industry.
Better hiring practices could definitely be implemented to weed out bad candidates. Not just testing for technical knowledge, but maybe including personality tests and IQ tests for testing levels of intelligence in all 7 disciplines.
No matter which way we cut it, more restrictions will box out someone that is currently working in the field competently today. Sometimes you just have to give a person a chance and see how they turn out, H1B or not.
All degrees are not equal. That is the problem (Score:5, Interesting)
The root cause of the problem, the loop hole that allows Indian IT companies to ship thousands of ill educated sub-standard programmers to USA is this: USA recognizes all degrees from India as though they are the equivalent of US college degrees. But sayin ALL graduates from St Mary's College of Engineering, Middle of Nowhere, Some State, India are equal to the graduates from UCLA or MIT is just bonkers.
There are ve
Re:All degrees are not equal. That is the problem (Score:2)
This examn need not be in the latest language or skill that is in fashion. Basic AP in programming level examn is enough. Of course, all degree holders from US accredited institutions should be granted exemption. This will clean up the mess to a large extent.
Another possible solution is to have foreign educational institutions apply for some kind of accreditation from some global body that shares accreditation with American institutions.
Another solution - require hires to have certifications. Perhaps even a global worker's union that issues the certification.
That creates a new problem, however, when top talent is needed when dealing with bleeding edge technologies. There's no exam or certificate for technologies that were slapped together last week.
Forcing developers to have specific degrees from specific accredited universities is a bottleneck too, disenfranchising many people that are currently working in the industry.
Better hiring practices could definitely be implemented to weed out bad candidates. Not just testing for technical knowledge, but maybe including personality tests and IQ tests for testing levels of intelligence in all 7 disciplines.
No matter which way we cut it, more restrictions will box out someone that is currently working in the field competently today. Sometimes you just have to give a person a chance and see how they turn out, H1B or not.