Most active commenters
  • kelipso(3)

←back to thread

1245 points mriguy | 13 comments | | HN request time: 0.2s | source | bottom
Show context
breadwinner ◴[] No.45306017[source]
$25K annual fee per H1B worker as opposed to $100K one-time would have made more sense. It would have made even more sense to have employers compete (within their own sector, such as tech, aerospace, etc.) such that whoever offers the highest salary will get the H1B worker.
replies(3): >>45306139 #>>45307329 #>>45307798 #
1. gowld ◴[] No.45306139[source]
Why within a sector? make everyone compete, and we'll find if any local workers want the high paying jobs. The H1B count can be increased to cover jobs that locals don't want even at high salaries.
replies(2): >>45306159 #>>45306208 #
2. breadwinner ◴[] No.45306159[source]
Why would locals not want high paying jobs? The question is whether qualified people can be found locally or not.
replies(1): >>45306209 #
3. azemetre ◴[] No.45306208[source]
Because there are some H1B workers that come over as translators or other non-tech professions. Like if you need a translator that speaks Swahili for some NGO it's way easier to hire a native Swahili speaker than possibly finding a qualified American that also speaks Swahili.

I do find it interesting that these trillion dollar companies can't find domestic workers, at their level of wealth they should simply be forced to pay for the education of Americans to create a funnel of workers rather than exporting this societal need to other nations.

replies(2): >>45306320 #>>45308850 #
4. ToucanLoucan ◴[] No.45306209[source]
It's a severely under-reported aspect of this issue that a troubling amount of times, the issue isn't that Americans want too much money or just don't want to work, the issue is there are no Americans qualified to do the work you need to do who are looking for a job.

The Hyundai factory exposed this. The VISA'd employees (or non-VISA'd? I don't remember the details offhand) were only there in the first place overseeing the project because they literally could not find anyone qualified to do the fucking job in Georgia.

replies(1): >>45306887 #
5. kelipso ◴[] No.45306320[source]
There are a bunch of H1Bs working as teachers in my medium sized midwestern city, making around $50k. Then there are a bunch in the healthcare sectors making from $50k to $500k. I actually feel like they are legitimate reasons they are there, very difficult to get good healthcare workers in the midwest since no one good wants to go there.
replies(1): >>45306475 #
6. vitaflo ◴[] No.45306475{3}[source]
Mayo and Cleveland Clinic are literally in the Midwest what are you talking about?
replies(2): >>45306550 #>>45307436 #
7. kelipso ◴[] No.45306550{4}[source]
There are lots of places that are hours to days drive away from those two. Midwest is a big place, so what are you talking about? I guess you could say the talent is concentrated in a few places, but lots of places in the midwest with terrible hospitals.
replies(1): >>45307963 #
8. mrguyorama ◴[] No.45306887{3}[source]
If there literally are no Americans (instead of just, no Americans at the price point you are willing to pay), then $100k is a small price to pay to enable your business.

Last I checked, Software Developers did not have a 0% unemployment statistic, so clearly there are American software developers that could be employed in those jobs, but FAANG still hires an H1B. Gee, I wonder why.

Maybe it's because H1Bs are cheaper than an American. Maybe it's because H1Bs cannot say no without risking being deported.

This claim that "No no no, every H1B was fine and totally could not even possibly be replaced by American labor" flies in the face of the actual reality of the tech industry. Microsoft can't find an American to write code? Bullshit, they just fired tons of them.

The fact that it is less abused in other industries should not be used to paper over the games the tech industry play. FAANG have been found multiple times to be collaborating to suppress tech industry wages. This is just another way they do that.

>could not find anyone qualified to do the fucking job in Georgia.

There was not a single American anywhere in the entire united states that could do things to build a car factory? Really? They couldn't fly someone out from Texas, or Michigan? Am I supposed to believe we don't have any human beings in the entire united states that know how to build part of a factory?

replies(1): >>45313102 #
9. azemetre ◴[] No.45307436{4}[source]
You think a few dozen buildings is enough to account for multiple states? Did teleportation become a thing and I missed out?
10. vitaflo ◴[] No.45307963{5}[source]
This is no different than anywhere else in the US. It’s says nothing about the Midwest.
replies(1): >>45314321 #
11. Amezarak ◴[] No.45308850[source]
There is a big problem with ethnic nepotism and ghost jobs. I have been struggling to get younger people in my network hired anywhere despite solid resumes. Continuing to issue H1Bs in the current job market was bananas.
12. dotnet00 ◴[] No.45313102{4}[source]
>If there literally are no Americans (instead of just, no Americans at the price point you are willing to pay), then $100k is a small price to pay to enable your business.

They also have the option of just not building the factory. Somehow you guys expect to increase manufacturing, while also increasing costs and acting like money grows on trees for businesses, and if you just got rid of the dirty brown and yellow people, you'd be getting paid $500k to work on an assembly line.

13. kelipso ◴[] No.45314321{6}[source]
I am sure the issue of talent being concentrated in a few places is a problem everywhere but it’s definitely more of a problem in the midwest; the quality of doctors and other healthcare workers there are noticeably worse than the east coast.