The fundamental problem with the debate is the misrepresentation of the pro-H1b side.
These H1bs are going to geniuses!
There's a separate visa for that, the O-1. The visas are used to import labor for relatively routine software work.
Most of the people on an H1b visa are average or below-average. The only reasons they're hired are:
- Clueless management thinks cost paid per hour is the only measure of worker productivity.
- The indentured servant status of the H1b worker makes them more attractive than a similarly-qualified US worker, or even a more qualified citizen worker. The H1b worker has little leverage to switch jobs, which means he doesn't need to be given raises and promotions. The H1b will put up with much abuse, because if he's fired, he has a narrow window to find a new job or lose his Visa.
- The executive who fires his "overpaid" workers for H1bs generally will pay himself a huge bonus, and then have a better job by the time consequences roll around.
- In most industries, there are no consequences. Most industries in the USA are an oligopoly, where a few large players control almost the entire market. If they all make the same bad decisions, they aren't punished in the market. They all hire the same "management consultants" who advise them to fire their US citizens and replace them with H1bs. It's only certain industries, like Boeing or Knight Trading, where there were high profile flops.
- Very often, the H1bs are hired through multiple layers of outsourcing firms, where 1-3 corporations stand between the client and the worker. In many cases, I bet there are under-the-table kickbacks to the executives hiring the H1bs.
- Once you have an Indian hiring manger, they frequently are racist and only hire other Indians. People like Elon Musk are accusing H1b critics of racism for pointing this out. I go on job interviews and the entire floor, 100% of the people, are Indian. The H1b visa is not used to supplement the US worker (as advertised). It's used to replace the US citizen worker.
- The Indians will also cover for each other's incompetence. This further reduces any actual savings due to hiring H1bs. India has a high culture of corruption. It's commonplace for one person to show up for interview and a different person shows up for day 1 of work. It's embarrassing to fire someone for doing that, so sometimes they get away with it.
I'm someone who probably would be eligible for an O-1 visa if I wasn't already a US citizen. I've been out of the software industry since age 40, unable to find ANY software job at all. I now work in a software-adjacent field, data scientist/analyst.
You could say "Well, the reason FSK couldn't find a software job is because he's a loser. It has nothing to do with the millions of H1bs that flooded into the country in the past decade+. All of them, every single one, is more qualified than FSK." I know that's a lie, but the H1b advocates say that with a straight face.
When an H1b is hired, the person who loses out is the marginal worker. Someone age 40+, someone with "not trendy" experience, someone from a low-ranked university. Those people struggle to get jobs. It's ignorant of basic economics to say that the H1b isn't at least partially responsible for their struggles in the job market.
If Indians really were "better tech workers" than US citizens, then India would be the country with the multi-trillion dollar tech industry and US citizens would be moving to India to get jobs.
Another nasty thing Elon Musk did is he suspended the Twitter accounts of people who disagreed with him on the H1b issue. So much for "free speech". One example is Laura Loomer.
The H1b issue is unfortunately bipartisan. Both major parties support it. Big tech has lobbyists, and your average working stiff does not. I don't expect any progress on limiting the H1b program.
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