Comment by wing-_-nuts | Hacker News Reader

Comment by wing-_-nuts | Hacker News Reader

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>people on H1B already have to prove they are being paid above the average market. They can't hire a senior engineer for 50k a year for example.

Companies that hire H1B's often 'downrank' employees to roles they are overqualified for in order to reduce salary requirements.

>Second, not all industry has high profit margins like software. Places like biotech or semiconductor can't afford 250K for a single worker,

If the industry cannot afford it, perhaps they shouldn't hire H1bs? How else, other than compensation, would you decide who provides the most economic value?

>Third, if H1B is given based purely on salary, then company won't bother with H1B anymore. Imagine what happen if suddenly half the company on market no longer care about having a H1B program.

A country's laws exist for the benefit of it's CITIZENS. I personally believe that the US H1B program is exploitative and should be ended, and our legal immigration system should be reformed. You need a worker? They get a green card, and can go to any company they please. That worker should also be automatically eligible for citizenship after ~ 5 years of paying taxes and staying out of trouble.

I have read about title inflation but I do not know about title deflation. I afraid you need to provide proof for your claim before I take it seriously. I do hear entry positions requiring a few years of experience, but often that is just a way to promote an internal hire, like a contractor or an intern.

How do you define economic value? By money only is a bad metric. Take pharma for example. The top 5 biggest pharma companies combined can't equal the same market cap or liquidity of 1 Apple (1.9T vs 2.5T). Now think about the societal impact. If you have to live in a place without drugs (those 5 pharma produce almost all the lifesaving drugs in the US) and a place without Apple products, where would you go?

I can go into the reasons why Apple is 2.5T and the pharmas is fraction of that, but that would be too long. It is simply the economy of scale, cost of manufacturing, and legal regulations. The cost of doing business results in lower salary for the end workers but it doesn't mean the industry is "lower value".

If we wish to import immigrants based on 'social impact' their are other avenues to bring in extraordinary individuals. We don't seem to have any problem acquiring the best Olympic athletes or artists, or actors.

More broadly, I disagree with our entire legal immigration system. It would be far better for us to have a points based system like Canada to bring in the very best and brightest and quickly integrate them into our system. Until then, I stand in pretty firm opposition to the H1B as it stands today.

how do you suggest a person from India get a green card? there's a 50 year waiting list

Nope, I'm saying that we should reform our immigration system so that isn't the case. You really need a foreign employee? Alright, but you have to pay a premium, and that employee is free to go anywhere else they like if they don't feel they're treated well. That would end the semi indentured servitude I've seen from h1b coworkers who were desperate to keep their job least they be deported.

It would improve conditions for Americans too.

As it is - because most employees in SFBA are H1B - we all have to suffer shit working conditions with toxic management.

So they don’t get in that’s fine too.

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