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H1-B Visa issue - Wallace B. McClure

Wallace B. McClure

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H1-B Visa issue

<rant topic="Business of Technology">

Once again, another tech company (Microsoft, but it could easily be Intel, Oracle, or ABC) wants to say that the limits on H1-B is limiting their ability to hire and will ultimately hurt their business.  Sorry folks, but I don't believe it.  When I came out of school, these same companies were screaming that they only wanted experience.  Then the story became that they could not find enough American workers.  Then the story was that they needed to open lots of overseas offices because the "talent" was overseas.  To be blunt, the issue is that a company can get more foreign workers for the same amount than they can get american workers.  Its that simple.  I just don't understand why they are trying to "sell" people on something different.  Just admit the truth and move on. 

This whole issue is as dumb as Dr. Craig Barrett of Intel that is trying to say that Americans need to get a better education.  This implies that a company will want to hire you with this increased education and expertise. 

On associated thought on this issue: "The ability to speak english is not indicative of intelligence."

</rant>

Update: What do I mean by this?  I just wish that the people pushing the H1-B issue would tell the truth about their goals as oppossed to playing games.  If a company wants to setup shop overseas, thats fine with me.  Its their business, they should be able to run it as they see fit.  If a company wants to bring over a lot of people through the H1-B process, thats fine.  I just get upset when they hide behind this game of "we can't find talent here."  Its an excuse I don't believe and never will.

Posted: Apr 28 2005, 07:04 AM by Wallym | with 8 comment(s)
Filed under: ,

Comments

Jonathan said:

Just came across this post, and need to chip in to correct you on one minor point. I'm from the UK, and worked for a Boston company with an H1-B visa a few years ago.

It took five months for the INS to approve the visa - that's a long time for my company to wait for me to start woking.

During that time, my resume and the job description had to go through the Department of Labor, and it had to be proved that the job I was to do required "specialist skills", and that an American could not be found to fill the position.

The main reason for my reply is to point out that one condition of the H1-B is that the hiring company is *required* to pay you the equivalent of what your American counterpart would recieve. If they don't they can be held liable. So an H1-B is not a way to get cheap labor.

I am now a Permanent Resident, married to an American, and despite what I said above I would agree with you that if these companies looked hard enough within the US, they would easily find the skills they need. There are still many untapped resources claiming unemployment around here.
# April 28, 2005 9:02 AM

Sinik Al Tekki said:

Wallace, I think you are missing the point, which is that the immigration law is broken.

The H1-B issue is just a specific point that illustrates this. Why does a company have to struggle with the bureaucratic barriers if it wants to recruit a bright foreign individual?

It hasn't been about getting a bigger pool of candidates for a while. If you haven't noticed, the Web has enabled global recruitment without regards to nationality.

And yet, an illiterate farmer who crossed the border illegally has a far greater chance of becoming a lawful citizen than a Ph.D. who came to the U.S. on a visa. This is what you would call a policy of "national endumbment".

Don't you think that's f***ed up?
# April 28, 2005 10:20 AM

Eric Newton said:

At least if the individuals live here in America, then the American economy reaps some benefits of their work, instead of having Microsoft open offices in India/Germany wherever and having our US Dollars funnelled straight out of the country.

I think the entire IT sector has downgraded because of the 9/11 scale back of visas, not just because of the resulting economic downturn because of fear and speculation of 9/11.

Outsourcing is killing our economy, weaking our dollars, and is generally bad bad bad because all those dollars being paid out to foreign workers are not coming back to the US.
# April 28, 2005 1:54 PM

Sanketh said:

I think it isn't as straightforward as simply "H1-B salaries are lower", because there is legislation that prevents companies from paying too low salaries to H1-B positions as compared to Americans in the same positions.

# April 28, 2005 2:57 PM

AndrewSeven said:

If the person to whom you are speaking only speaks English, then the ability to speak English will be used as a primary indicator ;)

But it might not indcate that the speaker is intelligent.

# April 28, 2005 4:51 PM

Some Guy said:

Just to clear some misconceptions in your mind... H1-B workers have to be paid the same amount as a US worker would, or else the department of labor will not approve the H1-B application. Everyone thinks H1-B workers get paid less, this is just not true.

Offshore development groups a.k.a Outsourcing is not the same as hiring H-1B workers.

I have hired H1-B (or foreign workers) and it is not that they are smarter or have a better education... its just that their work ethic is superior. They are willing to work longer hours, even though it is not required and produce better results.

The "you need a better education" statement, doesnt necessarilly mean changing the curriculm, it means incorporating discipline and work ethics too.

Keep ranting....

# April 28, 2005 5:46 PM

TrackBack said:

There is a very common misconception that it is cheaper to hire and employ foreign nationals on an H1-B...
# April 29, 2005 7:57 PM

TrackBack said:

On a related note, I agree with Faisal's criticism of Wally's H1-B rant. I don't purport to be an expert...
# May 3, 2005 3:08 PM
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