https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/st...
They should explicitly write rules for this if that's what they want to enforce.
Either way, it seems like a very petty and selectively populist political move. "Look I fired this fucker who wasn't prioritizing American workers".... That dude hardly knew about that. He was looking at the price tag, not the LCAs of their sub-contractors.
I would expect that you would be required to meet federal government labor regulations and standards (including H1B visa requirements), even when using subcontractors, when you are a federally chartered corporation or are doing business with the federal government.
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/guide-to-labor-and-empl... (A Guide to Labor and Employment Obligations for Federal Contractors)
> IX. Subcontracting: Contractors must recognize that their obligations under these laws and executive orders also apply to their subcontractors. Many CBAs provide that the agreement applies to any subcontractor used by the contractor to perform work done by covered employees, and the contractor is responsible for the subcontractor’s failure to comply with the terms of the CBA. (snipped non-relevant union language for brevity, available in link above)
EDIT: @belltaco: You're violating the law if you replace US workers with H1Bs [1] [2]. This is supposedly what TVA contractors have done [3] [4] [5].
[1] https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/11/08/h-1b-spouses-h-4-work...
[2] https://www.uscis.gov/report-fraud/combating-fraud-and-abuse...
[3] https://usagag.com/tennessee-valley-authority-firing-america...
[4] https://whnt.com/news/huntsville/protesters-in-huntsville-ra...
The constant pressure toward replacing manufactured goods (food included) with cheaper alternatives isn't just about increasing margins, it's also about sticker shock ratcheting up among your customers.
I don't know about recently, but tech salaries were growing much faster than inflation for a long time. I suspect that in some cases those consultancy negotiators were sitting in meetings with customers who didn't understand why they had to pay 25% more to renew a largely unmodified contract. and/or why the senior people are being replaced. Because you can't afford those people anymore, pal.
So for the same dollar you are probably getting more COTS/OSS software and talent that is easier to exploit (young, H1-B, or both). I hesitate to think what happens in 2030 when whole teams are already the most vulnerable developers and it's time to renegotiate contracts again.