Software Engineer Turned Taxi Driver, Explains How Much Employers Save With H1-B Workers

[calmdude]

Originally Posted by atlbravo

It is not an everyday occurrence that a software engineer with 14 years turns to taxi driving. That is why I find that his story lacks credibility.
Sorry Exitus Acta Probat, you seem to be set in your thinking about H1-B and nothing I say will change your mind. Just be aware that there are many people on H1-B who don't fit the profile that is conjured in your mind.

Agree that a majority do not fit the profile. But, some thigs are true:
- most H1Bs are scared to lose their jobs (the visa is conditional)
- most will work harder ("paying dues") than locals
- some are abused
- manaement loves cheaper worker bees who complain less and cost less
- now, companies can extend H1 visas for multiple years (I think up to 5 yrs) and keep the status quo
OTOH, and more importantly, most H1bs from India/China/etc form the backbone of engineering talent in this country and are net positive contributors.

[atlbravo]

- most H1Bs are scared to lose their jobs (the visa is conditional) --> True, I guess it was designed to give control to the Employer. There is an element of fear in everyone, but the degree varies on per individual. I
- most will work harder ("paying dues") than locals --> True. A "hard working" individual will work, regardless of whether he is on visa or not
- some are abused --> Not disputing that. My take is these folks were dangled the Green card carrot and change of employers can set them back decades in the GC queue.
- manaement loves cheaper worker bees who complain less and cost less -->Nothing a H1-B can do about it
- now, companies can extend H1 visas for multiple years (I think up to 5 yrs) and keep the status quo --> They can extend to a maximum of 6 years in increments of 3 years. With the GC Queue in the employment category backlogged by almost a decade, folks who are in the advanced stage of GC processing can extend their H1-B visa in increments of 3 years till their case is adjudicated.
OTOH, and more importantly, most H1bs from India/China/etc form the backbone of engineering talent in this country and are net positive contributors. --> Thanks for recognizing that.

[johnrex62]

My two cents worth: I work with many foreign nationals on H1B and many of them DO put in more hours than the average worker, but nothing near what is being claimed by this report. My normal week is between 45-50 hours and only a handful of H1B workers do significantly more than that week in and week out. Most put in about the same hours as the rest of us.

They do seem to be tagged more often for afterhours and weekend support, but that might also be due to a lack of family and outside life for many of these guys.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Who in IT doesn't put in long hours? Seriously, that's why I finally got out of it. It doesn't make a difference if you are making 120k if you don't have a life away from work. No thanks!

[atlbravo]

Thanks all, I have tried my bit to dispel myths about h1-b program. They are an easy target to blame for all the ills plaguing the economy, especially as this section of population is without representation.
To summarize, there are some abuses and people have taken advantage of the loopholes. The laws must be strengthened to close these gaps and bring the offenders to justice. However, a majority of the companies follow the program, both in law and spirit and to help these companies retain their competitive edge, I urge readers to educate themselves with regard to this topic and influence law makers for the benefit of this country.

[atlbravo]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

He turned to taxi driving because of a lack of opportunities in SW engineering. What's not to understand about that? Furthermore, what is cherry picked about the story which I posted? Additionally, since it is one story, how would you define the inverse in still the case of one story? And furthermore, using loaded terms such as "bashing" does nothing to bolster your argument. If you have FACTS to discuss, then that's one thing, but to throw around loaded terms and then to make a few ad hominin attacks does not constitute any legitimate form of rational discourse.

Here is an example of "H1-B aka India bashing" .

http://www.city-data.com/forum/7386972-post2.html

[Yahoo]

Originally Posted by atlbravo

Thanks all, I have tried my bit to dispel myths about h1-b program. They are an easy target to blame for all the ills plaguing the economy, especially as this section of population is without representation.
To summarize, there are some abuses and people have taken advantage of the loopholes. The laws must be strengthened to close these gaps and bring the offenders to justice. However, a majority of the companies follow the program, both in law and spirit and to help these companies retain their competitive edge, I urge readers to educate themselves with regard to this topic and influence law makers for the benefit of this country.

Here is my observation...

There are five categories of users in the forum.

Category One : Most of the users fall into this category, they are frustrated (and rightly so) with illegal immigration, these users don’t care much about legal immigration.

Category Two : These are the users users who watch Lou Dobbs kind of shows and think H1B is 100% fraud, ALL H1B’s work 100 hours/week, ALL H1B are paid less than average salary, H1B’s don’t pay taxes etc.

Category Three : These are the users who cannot differentiate between legal and illegal immigration.

Category Four : They understand H1B system is not perfect, but not totally broken.

Category Five : Well, the last category of users are the ones whose response to any discussion will be "send them back to their home country". IMO, you cannot have a meaningful dialogue with these users. I would just ignore them.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by atlbravo

It is not an everyday occurrence that a software engineer with 14 years turns to taxi driving.

I never stated it's an everyday occurrence. And furthermore, who did?

We call that a red herring...

That is why I find that his story lacks credibility.
Sorry Exitus Acta Probat, you seem to be set in your thinking about H1-B and nothing I say will change your mind.

Why am I going to change my mind when I'm seeing the same arguments I've seen for years on this topic? If you have something new that wasn't concocted by TATA Consulting, the India Caucus, etc. then I'll give it more consideration. In the meantime, there's nothing new to discuss.