New H-1B bill will 'help destroy' U.S. tech workforce

[Newsjock]

Source: Computerworld

New legislation being pushed by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to hike the H-1B visa cap is drawing criticism and warnings that it will lead to an increase in offshoring of tech jobs. IEEE-USA said the legislation, introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday, will "help destroy" the U.S. tech workforce with guest workers.

Other critics, including Ron Hira, a professor of public policy at Howard University and a leading researcher on the issue, said the bill gives the tech industry "a huge increase in the supply of lower-cost foreign guest workers so they can undercut and replace American workers."

Hatch, who is the No. 2 ranking senator in the GOP-controlled chamber, was joined by co-sponsors Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in backing the legislation.

... An H-1B visa is good for six years, the IEEE estimates (assuming all the visas are used) that it represents at least an additional 1.8 million employees competing for jobs in a U.S. STEM workforce of about 5 million.

Read more: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2868428/new-h-1b-bill-will-help-destroy-us-tech-workforce.html

[pampango]

1. As many predicted, republicans respond to comprehensive immigration reform with piecemeal

pro-corporate immigration reform.

Hatch has made an H-1B increase a priority issue for the new Senate. Previous efforts to pass stand-alone bills to hike the cap were blocked by supporters of comprehensive immigration reform, who didn't want to dilute support for a broader bill. But Republican leaders in both chambers are much more open to the idea of a stand-alone high-skill immigration bill.

... main problem with the I-squared bill is that it doesn't propose any wage or recruitment reforms that the H-1B program needs. Even the prior Senate's comprehensive immigration bill, which failed to get a vote in the House of Representatives, "at least pushed things in the right direction by slightly raising the prevailing wage level, having an H-1B job database, and phasing in the 50/50 rule." That rule limits a firm's use of H-1B workers to 50% of its workforce.

The IEEE-USA has favored green card immigration over an expansion of the H-1B program.

"There are simply no arguments for H-1B increases that aren't better made for green cards," said Russ Harrison, IEEE-USA government relations director, in a statement. "The primary, practical function of the H-1B program is to outsource American high-tech jobs. Do the bill's supporters really think that's the direction American immigration policy should go?"

[FrodosPet]

12. This is a bipartisan bendover

[pampango]

15. Some Democratic senators are going along. I'm not sure it is enough to make it "bipartisan".

The force behind the idea certainly seems to be coming from republican leadership in congress.

[DetlefK]

2. The industry doesn't have a problem finding qualified people...

They have a problem finding qualified working for that salary.


If there really were a shortage of qualified workers, the companies would do it like India and educate them from scratch and en masse.

[whatthehey]

3. Hmmm...H1B salaries seem not unattractive in reality

These are 2011 figures so doubtless even higher now...

http://globalcareerstrategies.org/us-company-sponsorship/top-100-h1-b-sponsors/

I've come across quite a few H1B workers, including as their immediate supervisor in some cases, and none have been paid less than their domestic counterparts.

I've also advertised for SAP super users. Not programmers or implementation gurus, just people who know how to do basic config and troubleshoot master data. Offering 85-110k w/excellent benes in a very low cost of living area. ONE qualified non-Indian name showed up on CVs in response.

India has universities that teach SAP, which is indisputably the world's #1 Enterprise software, in toto. The US user base relies on on the job training that almost all security-paranoid admins restrict far too much based on user role so you have very few people who ever learn how to do more than slavishly follow work instructions.

[cascadiance]

5. When Americans are being paid LESS than they used to be paid, this isn't hard to see happening...

H-1B has been reducing both salaries and job availability to American workers. I'm making less money than I made 20 years ago and it is due to this.

Also, as for training, India pays for bachelors degrees for its citizens, and therefore they don't have the same education costs that young Americans do these days to be trained for tech careers. Smart American kids realize that tech careers are too expensive to be trained for and have artificially low salaries and job availability and therefore don't get educated in these careers but others like medical or law, etc. that are less apt to be outsourced.

[whatthehey]

6. How much SHOULD I pay an SAP config/master data person then

Seems six figures in KY should be enough to tempt most unemployed or this horde of underpaid dsomestic workers

[One_Life_To_Give]

14. 8% more than last year

If we really have a shortage of workers. Then the pay rate should be rising by 8% annually like it has been for petroleum engineers.

[jeff47]

16. If you aren't getting resumes, more than you are.

Supply and demand does not only apply to goods.

You're in KY. There's not a lot of IT/CS workers in KY. So you'll either have to pay a lot to the local small pool, or you're going to have to pay enough to relocate someone from somewhere else.

[cascadiance]

4. I'm waiting for a senator to stand up and say that H-1B should never be in an *immigration* bill!

Because this isn't about having people IMMIGRATE to the U.S. It is about them coming here TEMPORARILY and working jobs here cheaply and going back after their contract is up. That isn't immigration folks! Money they earn is sent back to their families in other countries and doesn't help our economy here. They ultimately take their skill sets and increase the strength of places like Bangalore as the tech center of the world instead of Silicon Valley, which used to be the tech center of the world.

Someone needs to stand up to these bastards and lead the Democrats on filibustering such efforts. Senator Schumer, do you want to prove that you are the most liberal senator as some corporatist media surveys have called you and for once go against Hatch to get this out of legislation instead of working with him to put it in?

Ultimately, there are many here that feel they need to come here through the H-1B program if they want to immigrate here instead of following normal immigration processes that have been stalled over the years. A real immigration bill would help those that want to move here and become citizens to do so, instead of forcing them in to slave guest labor programs.

And Democrats, if you are smart, you'll also leverage many of those Tea Party Republicans who don't want immigration at all, to at least stop H-1B from bringing more people in and at least stop the H-1B from expanding. Might be trickier to get their help for helping with REAL immigration, but I would think you could twist their arms and threaten exposing them to their base as wanting to let in people to take American jobs through H-1B if these Tea Party Republicans vote for this expansion. That is why Eric Cantor got primaried out, since he wasn't as "anti-immigrant" as his tea party opponent.

[ND-Dem]

7. K&R. The plan IS to destroy the US workforce. And our fake "leaders" are actually traitors

and lackeys of wealth.

[Enthusiast]

8. The goal appears to be to destroy the American working class.

Last edited Thu Jan 15, 2015, 07:00 PM - Edit history (1)

[AgingAmerican]

9. In societies with only rich and poor people

...the rich people wield lots of power. That's how it works in the third world.

[msongs]

10. an american president on the side of working people would veto this bill nt

[Matariki]

11. One of the few jobs left that pays a decent wage

can't have that...

[beerandjesus]

13. Amy Klobuchar??