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United States Businesses Politics

Trump Admin Takes First Steps To Overhaul H-1B Visa That Tech Companies Use To Hire Internationally (geekwire.com) 252

President Donald Trump's immigration authorities are moving to enact broad changes to a visa that allows American companies to bring international workers to the country. From a report: On Friday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Homeland Security released a proposed rule that takes the first steps toward overhauling the H-1B visa. The new rule would prioritize applications for workers with advanced degrees from American universities. The policy would also change the application process companies go through when they want to secure H-1B visas for foreign talent. Instead of completing a petition for the new employee, companies would register for free online to enter what's been described as the "H-1B lottery." Immigration law caps the number of regular H-1B visas that can be awarded each year at 65,000. An additional 20,000 may be awarded to workers with master's degrees and PhDs. Under the new system, USCIS would review all applications, including those for workers with advanced degrees, during a registration period before the actual petitions are filed.
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Trump Admin Takes First Steps To Overhaul H-1B Visa That Tech Companies Use To Hire Internationally

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  • So... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by sit1963nz ( 934837 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @05:52PM (#57728706)
    The alternative is to set up software hubs in those other countries.
    It will be just like hardware really, the design, testing, etc etc will be done in the USA, but the construction is done overseas.

    Over all it will not see much change in the number of US citizens employed in the USA, it will mean that those H-1B jobs simply get filled overseas. The US government looses the income tax paid, and other countries benefit. Long term, the knowledge and skills that gets transferred to another country will improve the knowledge and skills available in that other country, success breeds success. It could see even MORE US jobs going.

    Capitalism is a wonderfull thing, it means the USA can get their shoes cheaper, but it also means companies will seek lower wage economies.

    There is no law to say USA wages must be higher. Competition is a double edged sword
    • Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Sponge Bath ( 413667 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @06:04PM (#57728770)

      Competition is a double edged sword

      We are talking nerd jobs so it's more of a bat'leth. (adjusts pocket protector)

    • You don't want tax revenue running around loose now do you?

    • Re:So... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jeff4747 ( 256583 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @06:10PM (#57728806)

      That already exists, and is called "offshoring". It tends to not work all that well in practice.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by sit1963nz ( 934837 )
        Neither did Japanese and Korean cars and electronics. Things change, especially when time and investment are made.
        • Are you under the illusion that offshoring is new? Or that billions have not been spent trying to make it work?

          • Are you under the illusion it can not work ?

            Software as an industry is still young, but the entry costs are rapidly falling.
            Development boards are now throw away items they are so cheap.
            Compilers are free

            The barriers to teaching , learning, and entry are practically gone for software development.
            The advantage the US once had where they could afford the tools has gone.
            Open Source software has also supplied a free example of code to learn from
            The people who had been gaining experience under the visa
    • Re:So... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @06:20PM (#57728870)

      There is no law to say USA wages must be higher. Competition is a double edged sword

      This is exactly correct. Instead of pulling other countries up, we're pulling our own country down to their level. A race to the bottom only benefits corporations, not workers. The solution for this is to place taxes on goods made by workers paid less than 95% the average wage in the US. The idea is to effectively make the cost of labor closer to being flat. This will raise the standard of living for workers in other countries significantly while preventing using it as a wage suppression tactic.

      Competition only works if the wages are comparable. The current disconnect in wages has allowed rampant exploitation.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by sit1963nz ( 934837 )
        And for countries that lack automation, they could place a tariff on US made goods so the same number of man hours is accounted for.

        And for the countries that do not apply tariffs on each other, trade between them will flourish.

        Trump if anything has shown that trade dependancy on the USA is a dangerous thing and that other countries must broaden their trading partners. This has reduced the impact the US economy will have in the rest of the world, and has reduced the influence the USA can exert.

        The cou
        • And for countries that lack automation, they could place a tariff on US made goods so the same number of man hours is accounted for.

          You have misconstrued the purpose. The purpose is to ensure workers (regardless of country) are paid fair wages. Automation however cannot (and should not) be stopped and will continue to eliminate jobs.

          • See you think it's just about wages. Why can it not be about economic advantage. Why should a worker in a poor country be disadvantaged simply because they can not afford automation. ?
            • See you think it's just about wages. Why can it not be about economic advantage.

              If any country wants to put a tax on automation, that's their prerogative. It's not logical to do so since automation makes things cheaper while still enabling workers to be paid a fair wage but it's still their prerogative. If you want to argue in favor of it, be my guest.

              Why should a worker in a poor country be disadvantaged simply because they can not afford automation. ?

              Automation only exist because it's less expensive than paying people. Your premise that they cannot afford it implies they would pay workers less than the cost of automation which is already less than what we pay workers for the same j

              • by ghoul ( 157158 )

                The only reason wages are higher in US is during the early 20th century USA was the Saudi Arabia of the world and made a shitload of money from exporting oil. Not every country is sitting on an oil bonanza. Countries will try to use their competitive advantages. One of them can be that their workers are willing to accept a lower lifestyle and hence lower wages

        • "This trade war is one the USA is loosing."

          Wrong. Not "is losing" - rather, "has already lost, badly".

          Many parts of America are in a 40+ year economic depression. Entire industrial sectors have totally collapsed and disappeared. We LOST the trade war. In no small part because our rulers sold out their own countrymen for private gain.

          America has NOTHING to fear from ANY trade war. There is literally no way it could make the American economy worse.

          So we say to China, to India, to Europe - BRING IT! You have

          • No, you have lost simply because of time.

            The USA did not have to completely rebuild after WWII, unlike all of Europe and Asia. The USA was able to sell stuff that the world needed, an in the 1950's the USA accounted for 60% of the entire worlds GDP. The World then required the USA.

            By the mid 1970s the rebuild was done, world manufacturing, food production, etc etc was producing surplus so the other countries traded among themselves, leaving the USA out of the loop. This trend has simply continued. Curre
          • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            You didn't lose a trade war, you failed to adapt.

            When motorcars became popular the buggy whip manufacturers regarded it as a trade war. They tried to get rules and taxes imposed to make motorcars less attractive, but it didn't work and they went bust.

            The world is constantly evolving and there is nothing you can do to stop it.

            The solution is to help people adapt, to re-train and get new jobs, and to encourage creation of those jobs. Unfortunately helping people directly like that is un-American, it looks too

          • USA being obscenely richer than all other countries was an anomaly due to WW2 destroying all other major economies while growing the US economy. As other economies have rebuilt and others have thrown off the shackles of colonialism and unleashed there potential a reversion to mean is occurring. there is nothing inherently special about America or Americans. Just because someone wins a lottery and becomes a billionaire doesnt mean their children will continue to be always richer than their neighbors. The nei

      • "You" are pulling other countries up though. Salaries in India are expected to grow by 10% next year. Reasonably competent tech talent costs roughly similar amount almost anywhere nowadays, crazy bubbles like SV excluded. Like you can't get a programmer for $100/month even if that's the typical salary in whatever 3rd world country.

        And if you make labor costs flat across the world artificially, developing countries would no longer have any competitive advantage and would find it much more difficult to grow.

        • "You" are pulling other countries up though. Salaries in India are expected to grow by 10% next year.

          Yes and think of how much faster we'd pull them up if they were paid 95% of what Americans are paid? At the same time, we wouldn't be dragging the US down. It's a win-win. The only people that lose are the cheapskate bosses.

      • living and working conditions. India has a massive number of people with food insecurity. This results in much cheaper labor because they're literally fighting for their lives. You can't compete when there's that much inequality.
        • I agree that poor working conditions should also be taxed the amount that would be needed to raise them to suitable levels. Then we turn around and use the money from the tax to hire Indian workers to improve the conditions.

          Living conditions is highly complex and more due to low wages, so boosted wages themselves may solve the problem.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Not sure how you could enforce that, how are you going to monitor wage levels at factories in other countries? And at what point in the supply chain do you monitor? If one resistor is made by a low paid person does the whole iPhone get hammered with the tax?

        And what about robots? They get paid $0.

        The only way to compete is to offer something different. Local service, higher quality, expertise and experience. Build up working relationships. In my industry you can buy the same stuff from China for a fraction

      • Competition only works if the wages are comparable.

        In order for that to be possible, the production quality, turnaround times, and productivity levels, among many other factors, of the different workforces in question must be roughly comparable. That is nowhere near true at this point in time. The actual value labor produces varies widely among workforces in various parts of the world and also depends on the particular labor type, all for a whole host of reasons.

        Ycu cannot pay a man more than the value his labor produces and call what you're doing a busines

    • "Capitalism is a wonderfull thing, it means the USA can get their shoes cheaper, but it also means companies will seek lower wage economies."

      This is non-sequitur, capitalism has NOTHING to do with this problem as it can exist in any economic model. Capitalism simply uses the resources it is allowed to have by the Government, in this case, foreign workers. It is also not necessarily cheaper. The purpose is to drive down wages so that they can get the better talented Americans to work for less and business

    • by Ungrounded Lightning ( 62228 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @09:49PM (#57729712) Journal

      The alternative is to set up software hubs in those other countries.

      Then watch your cutting-edge company dull and rot, as the 10-minute turnaround time for Q-A turns into one day due to the near-half-day time offset.

      (It's especially a scream to watch management try to use Agile techniques across a 12-hour offset and a giant culture gap, too.)

      And that's assuming you find exceptionally competent help. (Hint: There ARE really competent engineers in, say, India. But they're pretty much all employed, and paid substantially more than the bulk of the body-shop fodder which are most of what you get now.)

      One way to solve the time gap issue is to move the whole operation, including architecture, design, and admin, offshore. But then your IP is over there and NOT over here. If they're not competent you're left with restarting from scratch or an older snapshot when you realize they've blown it (and you're now months or years behind in the race to the window). If they ARE competent, watch for them to quit and start their own company (with your IP, under their IP laws and (non-)enforcement), leaving you in the same position but with a new competitor.

      Even with engineers of ordinary competence and the project split across the pond, offshoring can be of negative value: Your designer spends a bunch of time breaking off a chunk to be done overseas, then ends up doing the work himself anyhow, when the module doesn't arrive in time. So the added worker cost both his own pay plus a bunch of the time of the local guy on the critical path without any benefit from his work product.

      The invisible hand will get around to swatting the company - perhaps into the dustbin of history. But that takes some time.

      = = =

      But, speaking of the invisible hand: I'd like to see if we can get its input.

      A company "needs" a foreign talent? It's not just using H1Bs to get cheap labor? OK. Then the talent is worth a lot of money, and should be paid it, right?

      So lets try this:
        - A cap on the number of H1Bs, some number N.
        - And each year they go to the N candidates (or as renewals for those already here) being paid the highest salaries (with preference to those already employed in case of ties.)

      • You do understand that 60% of the worlds population lives in Asia, not the USA (only 4%)
        There is also Europe to consider.

        You do understand that delays TO the USA are just as long as the delays FROM the USA.

        Sorry, but the USA is NOT the centre of the universe. And more and more US corporations are earning more from the rest of the world than the USA, the US has become a secondary market. The real consumer growth is is Asia, not the USA.

        But keep believing what you believe, it will then come as a rude s
        • Sorry, but the USA is NOT the centre of the universe.

          So what? The rest of the world is welcome to try to develop and sell its own high tech, just like we did.

          Meanwhile, the USA is where *I* live and work now. So foreign-worker laws, their interpretation and enforcement, along with management and investor fads, all matter to *MY* bottom line. Especially when I have founding stock options in a startup but not enough clout with the C-suite to keep them from committing corporate suicide.

          For non-founders, thou

    • by plopez ( 54068 )

      Wages should be hire for *everyone*. Impoverishment of everyone, in the US or overseas is flat out wrong esp. when profits are soaring and wages in real terms are dropping. To think otherwise is unethical and immoral.

    • it costs a ton to bring an H1-B here. On top of that it's much, much cheaper to pay them in their home country. If businesses could offshore these jobs they would. Sometimes you just need people on site to collaborate. Yahoo, for example, learned that the hard way.
      • And all the US manufacturing job that went to Asia learned a different lesson.

        Software is a skill that can be learned and that skill can be used in any country in the world.

        It is simply US arrogance that keeps it believing that only the USA can produce good software. I am sure the US manufacturing sector had exactly the same views back in the 1960s and 1970's.

        Yahoo also had that view, they were too big, too important, too special to fail.
      • by ghoul ( 157158 )

        The lesson to be learned here is that Software development as a industry needs to move to India. H1Bs are a band aid to try and force software development to stay in the USA but ultimately it needs to go. As a country gets richer people want to have easier and easier lives and send the difficult jobs away and software development is one of the few difficult jobs left in the US. Everything else pretty much does not need a brain or a work ethic.

  • Instead of completing a petition for the new employee, companies would register for free online to enter what's been described as the "H-1B lottery."

    For Free? Just No. It's not like these companies aren't making money hand over fist providing indentured employees to US companies. With enough applicants, we could pay off the National Debt.

    This isn't powerball.

  • Large amount of H1Bs (Score:5, Interesting)

    by BrookHarty ( 9119 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @06:06PM (#57728784) Journal

    I worked at ATT Wireless when number portability was released, and people could finally switch cell phone providers and keep their number. The VP of finance fired the entire department running the software/services and brought in Mindtree (i think) to replace the workers. He had a couple hundred H1B's working months in advance of the migration.

    The Migration failed horribly. ATT Wireless missed the deadline, hundreds of people lost their jobs, and ATT wireless couldn't enact number portability quick enough and was fined millions of dollars a day.

    My engineering department was moved into the same building as the H1B's, and it was a nightmare. I've worked with H1B's over the years, but never experienced the mess of the restrooms and building. Working at other companies with H1B's and Indian Nocs, and no issues, so no idea why ATT and Mindtree was so horrible. My experience with H1B's have been mixed, some cheap companies pushing Cisco certified engineers who didn't even know how to use SSH to talented skilled programmers who became citizens. So I do think some H1B's are being used as an excuse that no US workers can be found, theres always unemployeed looking for work, when I know some engineers who took 3-6 months, and a Storage engineer who took a year to find a storage architect job. YMMV.

    Also up here in Seattle, there are entire blocks of apartment buildings around Microsoft that Indian consulting companies rent out, and put 3-5 H1B's to an apartment, they live dirt cheap, its rather depressing to see how they live. Its not like theres not enough engineers around this area, we have Amazon, Google, Facebook, ATT, TMobile, Verizon, Apple, Blackberry, Tableu, and a zillion other tech companies here. Lots of us citizens looking for work. Last time I needed a job, I just posted what I wanted on craigslist in internet jobs, and had a recruiter calling me with what I wanted. But I admit I'm lucky, I had telecom experience in a telecom town.

    So is cleaning up H1B abuse good? Sure. Companies posting for database admins with 10+ years experience, programing, and paying 7 dollars an hour, so they can post "cant find any workers!" to hire H1B workers, is a scam. And that should be ended.

    Also, I like the 20K for PHD/Masters H1B, those people will demand high wages, and should help boost up wages for everyone. (I hope)

    • You'll notice it's an _additional_ 20k. They'll use diploma mills to get the workers they want. Meanwhile your wages and mine will drop.

      Also, it's not 20k _total_. It's 20k this year, 20k more the next. The work visas are good for 4-6 years at least. There's already over 800k H1-Bs in this country. Why do you think it is you can't turn your head in STEM without seeing them or that they're having to cram them 5 to an apartment?

      I don't think any abuses are going to be curtailed. It's going to get wors
      • I experienced that with some cisco engineers who really had no tech background, had the paperwork, but couldnt do basic works. We had to fire that H1B Indian NOC and find a different one. We also had to ask basic tech questions of engineers to make sure they could do simple things like SSH. How one gets a Cisco certification and not know how to ssh smells like fraud.

        I was hoping the 20K would be from accreddited not paper mills. South America is trying to steal doctors from other countries for kinda th

        • by ghoul ( 157158 )

          India should start the same system. For every H1B the companies should have to pay Indian govt 20000 USD for the cost of the education as most good colleges in India are govt funded. That would really make it clear who is doing who a favor in the H1B game.

  • by jeff4747 ( 256583 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @06:13PM (#57728832)

    Don't hand out the visas in a "lottery". Sort the applications by salary. Start handing them out for the highest-paid workers, and work your way down.

    If you really can't find these workers in the US, you'd be willing to pay more to import them.
    If you're just looking for cheap bodies, well you're gonna end up towards the bottom of the list and not get any visas.

    • by mobby_6kl ( 668092 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @07:33PM (#57729230)

      The lottery is a horrible idea in general, it encourages "consulting" companies to try bring in as many as possible interchangeable people but then if you need a specifically skilled person, well good luck, your'e now competing with 10k applications from those body shops, where they don't care which specific ones do get through.

    • They would not be able to compete with the googles and microsofts of the world in price. But, Should we care about them or about the actual industry that is being gutted by the influx of cheap labor? I say no.
      • by tempmpi ( 233132 )

        I'm not completely sure about that. Even with a rather small budget you can still pay very high salaries for some positions. There are also huge differences in productivity and hiring a small number of highly paid, but also highly productive engineers can be a good strategy. If you pay 200k to a highly skilled engineer who is easily performing work that normally would require 3 average engineers with 120k each, than that 200k salary is cheap and not expensive.

    • Great. Who makes lists? Let's just use the one Santa uses. It already shows who's been naughty and who's been nice.

      • Do you have even the slightest idea of how a company gets an H1B visa for a worker?

        Part of the process is telling the government 1) you want one. 2) how much you will be paying the H1B worker.

        Golly.....it's so difficult to figure out how someone could come up with a list!

    • My company has about 50 employees, and 4 are Indian nationals that finished masters of electrical engineering degrees in the US. We are sponsoring two this year, and at least the third next year. Salary is at worst competitive with a US citizen, and given the visa requirements is likely to actually be higher.

      Of the four, one is exceptional, one above average, and the other two it is too early to tell. After spending 12-18 months training them, in what way is it rational for them to be pushed out of the coun

      • we simply don’t get enough us-born applicants to meet our hiring needs.

        First, the employees you describe are not eligible for an H1B visa. They have to be out of the country at the start.
        Second, why are you only doing an H1B visa? It's temporary. Sponsor them for a permanent one so you can keep them after you've trained them.
        Third, as I said in the first post, if you really can't find the workers in the US you should be willing to pay more than someone looking for the cheapest labor. Which means you get those H1B visas and the cheapasses don't.

    • Sort the applications by salary. Start handing them out for the highest-paid workers, and work your way down.

      You've just promoted one industry over another in your immigration system without fixing the underlying problem.

      If you really can't find these workers in the US, you'd be willing to pay more to import them.

      That's not the problem you just solved. All you managed to do is ask for foreign saw mill workers to be paid as much as low undercut foreign doctors.

    • by ghoul ( 157158 )

      The problem with that is California and New York would get as many visas as needed while Austin, Raleigh or Denver companies would not get any. The alternate is to have a salary range depending on the local salaries and that is what is in place today

  • The 65k cap is a lie (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @06:14PM (#57728836)
    This is what I hate about corporate media. They're left on social issue but hard right on economics.

    Companies get 65k H1-Bs every year. Those visas are good for 4-6 years. There's over 800,000 H1-B visa workers in this country. Most of them tech workers.

    If Trump wants my attention he can start by reversing the Obama era executive order that let H1-B spouses work. That basically doubled the number of H1-Bs to 1.6 million overnight. That would also put upward pressure on H1-B wages since they'd have to pay for a stay at home spouse. He promised that during the campaign. It's been over 2 years and I'm still waiting. And no, the courts don't matter. It's an executive order. If anything the courts would side with reversing it. Obama overstepped his bounds signing the order.

    This same Congress is getting ready to double the number of H2-Bs, by the way. With the help of the Clinton Democrats like Pelosi and Chuck Shumer, I might add. I'm not expecting anything here. Donald Trump's also staffed his admin with the same ex-Goldman Sach's people who've been running the country since Clinton.

    If anyone wants to vote the bums out you'll get your chance in 2011. Show up at your primary. Also, and I know this isn't popular to say, but don't vote GOP. The Dems have Clinton Democrats, and those bastards need to be primaried, but the Dems have a _few_ pro worker folks like Bernie and Liz Warren. Yeah, they won't gut immigration, but birth rates are down, do you really want it gutted? What's gonna happen to your 401k if we're short workers. No, what you want is for some of that money the immigrants are earning to make it to you and your community. The GOP has been pushing trickle down economics again. The Tax Cut Trump did proved that. And it's not working, like always. GOP is out of ideas, Clinton Democrats are out of ideas. Time to give the Berniecrats a go.
    • meant 2020. Stupid /. not letting me edit comments.
    • by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @06:18PM (#57728856)

      If anyone wants to vote the bums out you'll get your chance in 2011.

      Man, I wish I'd seen your post sooner! Now it's too late...

    • You're right that this makes more workers and that should be commented on an counted. But it's important to let the spouses work legally because THEY ARE GOING TO WORK. If we don't encourage them to work in a form where we can get income tax, they'll just work in the cash-only economy. This makes us more money. But clearly, that should be part of the announced numbers and is not.

      • we have immigration enforcement for a reason. Deport both when the spouse is caught.

        And it doesn't make me a dime. That money doesn't get to me. Whatever they pay in taxes I lose in tax cuts to the wealthy. Until we get politicians who stop pushing Trickle Down economics and that Job Creator Bullshit lie then it really doesn't matter to me. I don't care about the economy at large. I care about _my_ economy. The working man's economy.
        • we have immigration enforcement for a reason. Deport both when the spouse is caught.

          You are exactly right. The sooner that the Justice Democrats which you constantly advocate for stop their campaign to dismantle ICE [archive.org], the better. It's hard to take them seriously as a viable party when they take these kind of moronic positions.

          • in my post. Are you stalking me? Cool, I got my first stalker!

            Anyway, I'm not opposed to killing ICE. Like I said above, We already have immigration enforcement. ICE was created _post_ 9/11. And like the patriot act that freaks me out. I can't help but wonder why we didn't just put more money into existing structures. To be blunt, it makes me wonder if ICE is going to turn into the American Version of the SS.

            Here's a crazy thought about The Wall: What makes you think it's there to keep people out? G
        • by ghoul ( 157158 )

          You do realize that the only reason Social Security is still solvent is because of immigrants. H1Bs pay into social security but get nothing back. As soon as they lose their job they need to leave the country so they cannot claim unemployment. if they get sick and disabled and cant work they need to leave the country and cannot claim disability. To get retirement benefits you have to pay in for 10 years and H1Bs are for 6 years so they get to pay in but never get to get any benefits.

    • by vakuona ( 788200 )

      If Trump wants my attention he can start by reversing the Obama era executive order that let H1-B spouses work.

      That's just a cruel thing to do. It is rather more honest to just not allow people into your country. When countries accept immigrants, they should accept them properly, rather than create second class residents.

    • by ghoul ( 157158 )

      65K *6 = 390K. Where do you get your 800K numbers unless you are counting the folks whose Green cards are approved but not issued due to the racist rules in place saying that only the same no of cards can be issued to 1 Billion Indians and 1 Billion Chinese as issued to 100000 Croatians?
      Stop the racism in Immigration rules and you will se the H1B number fall to 390K.
      The spouses allowed to work are those whose green cards are approved but waiting for a priority date. For Indians and Chinese that can be 15-20

  • by kiviQr ( 3443687 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @06:17PM (#57728854)
    This is a great way to drive education cost for US students by admitting more foreign students. Expect two mortgages if you want MS degree. If you cared about US workforce you would make sure they can afford education!
    • by ghoul ( 157158 )

      Many US students are able to study for free because the foreigners are paying a full tuition (they sell their houses and ancestral properties to pay for an US education) Kick the foreign students out and you will see fewer scholarships for American students. It might not be so bad. Fewer college educated Americans would mean more Americans to do farm labor and we might not need workers from Central America to pick the fruit. The foreigners can just as well spend their tuition money in Europe.

  • by kackle ( 910159 ) on Friday November 30, 2018 @06:20PM (#57728876)
    Can be as simple as "Every H-1B must get paid at least double the average American salary." Such a rule could work in perpetuity, too.
    • Average American makes $51k/yr. And that's the Average, it's much higher than the median Even at $102k/yr you're getting a steal. H1-Bs are already trained, are trained on a specific tech, are completely disposable and work 60-80/hr/week without complaint.

      Make it 4 times the Average and you might have something, but then we'll have to fight to keep them from redefining "Average".

      It's like Wargames, the only winning move it not to play. End the program. If we need them here they can immigrate, just l
    • That would actually be far smarter than this fucked up braindead system they have come up with.
    • And it would be quite accurate as well. The government already knows what we all make. They don't have to depend on the sweat shops to come up with the numbers.
    • by Kohath ( 38547 )

      TFA mentions that pay rules will be part of a separate regulation, planned for the future.

    • So much for the idea of smart people coming to contribute to America's greatness. It's amazing how many of the Slashdot armchair proposals include a method which relies fundamentally on manipulating a factor that is far removed from the factor of interest (local jobs).

  • Yeah, didn't think so.

  • Now make it an auction instead of a lottery...
  • Which is H1Bs are fundamentally indentured servitude. An H1B cannot pursue better paying jobs. Even if they pay their own shipping costs. This is a way of destroying free market forces and creating a captured labor market.

    • That isn’t true— while the company has a tiny bit of power, the employee has full freedom of movement.

      • They do not at all. I work with some people who have HB1 visa's and they are terrified of being fired. It's difficult to find a second employer. As you get anywhere near the end of the visa it gets even worse as who want to hire someone who might be forced to leave in a year? It's not quite slavery but it is indentured servitude. It creates an entire second-tire class of people who are easier for their employer (or their contracting company) to take advantage of. In Roman slaves were a big issue because the
  • Most American students leave university with 10,000 to 80,000 worth of student loans. While many H1-B workers total university cost is $8,000. A $1000 per month tax would put H1-B workers that same economic parity as American workers with student loans. And maintain a higher wages engineers have work hard for. If companies really want good talent then they should pay for it. The employer should pay some and the H1-B worker should pay some.

    Right now America is "out sourcing" education. It is cheaper to h
    • by ghoul ( 157158 )

      H1Bs already pay a 1000$ a month extra in tax. Its called FICA. They pay Social Security, Medicare, Disability taxes bt are not eligible to claim any of it. As soon as they lose their job or get disabled they have to leave the country. How do you think SS is still solvent? All the projections done in the 80s said SS would be insolvent by 2000 but the H1 boom of the 90s added billions to the SS fund with zero outflow or future liability.

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