A special pool for startups would be nice too, with less costs/requirements.
I'd personally be in favor of getting rid of the cap entirely or increasing it several times at least, but these might be more realistic reform ideas.
As for:
> A special pool for startups would be nice too, with less costs/requirements.
...why?
That's a pretty huge caveat, given that the industry has no definition for what a startup even is.
That's the problem with the idea of auctioning off H1Bs, as far as I can see it - startups would suffer. It also turns the H1B visa into a visa for people of extra special talent, and the O1 visa already exists for that.
For "H-1B dependent employers and willful violator employers", there is a requirement to "not displace any similarly employed U.S. worker" and to "recruit U.S. workers for the job for which the alien worker is sought, at wages at least equal to those offered to the H-1B worker". That doesn't apply to normal H-1B applications.
Also, the current system isn't great for startups. There are far more H1B applicants than there are visas. There are a few large companies that bring in the majority of H1Bs. These large companies can afford to apply for thousands of H1Bs knowing that only 50% or less will be approved. A startup hiring a handful of people can't afford to put in the application for a handful of people knowing that there is a very real chance that none of them will be approved. Even if they are approved, applications need to be in several months before the visa is issued. How many startups are hiring in March for a position they won't need to fill until October?
Oh the weekly 'auction h1b' discussion.
same exact discussion from last week https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11188243
No. Startups should not be given special treatment. Otherwise Tata, Infosys, et al would suddenly become "startups".
If we do go to an auction you'll see the floor slowly dropped similar to how the DHS has been expanding the OPT program in secret.
Bottom line is there isn't a STEM shortage, there is no need for H1B or OPT. It's just another form of corporate welfare at the expense of the middle class.
Tech companies don't care if we have 10000 biochemists sitting around doing nothing. STEM is a overused term.
Of course, if a company then reduces the salary later, or does some shenanigans, nail them under the "intent to defraud the government" laws.
Some people are suggesting tweaks: make an exception for startups .... take the geo location into account ... etc. etc. That makes this more complicated, and adds more avenues for cheating. Keep it dead simple, and problem solved.
1. Salary-based auction, 2. Do not bind employee to employer after 1 year, and 3. GoTo #1.
So no raises in that 4 years? And they're still tied to the company?
so infosys will start 500 subsidiaries and fund them VC style