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This is another issue people aren't aware of. So many illegal immigrants are those who came here legally, but the focus is on the border because those people are the easiest targets (and are likely poor...unlike many of those granted visas).
I do a fair bit of consulting work with a member of the faculty at MIT. (He's ethnic Chinese, but was born & raised in the USA and earned his PhD at Harvard). This faculty member tells me it used to be that 9 of 10 Chinese nationals came to MIT for their PhDs as a stepping stone to pursue their fortunes in business in America. Nowadays the number has flipped: 9 of 10 Chinese nationals getting their PhDs return to China to pursue their fortunes.
That says something.
I spent a couple of weeks teaching in China last year, and I was amazed at how entrepreneurial so many of them are. It's almost an obsession. If one has the money or the connections to be able to keep the government out of their way, there is a HUGE amount of money to be made in China.
I do a fair bit of consulting work with a member of the faculty at MIT. (He's ethnic Chinese, but was born & raised in the USA and earned his PhD at Harvard). This faculty member tells me it used to be that 9 of 10 Chinese nationals came to MIT for their PhDs as a stepping stone to pursue their fortunes in business in America. Nowadays the number has flipped: 9 of 10 Chinese nationals getting their PhDs return to China to pursue their fortunes.
That says something.
People want to make $$$ while putting in the least effort. Thus, China is probably a better place than the US as markets here are completely saturated. Makes complete sense to me. The only thing that doesn't make sense is why are American universities admitting those people in the first place. Wouldn't it be better for an African American student living in Landover, MD to be admitted as opposed to some random student from China or India.
Karōshi (過労死), which can be translated literally as "overwork death" in Japanese, is occupational sudden mortality. The major medical causes of karōshi deaths are heart attack and stroke due to stress and a starvation diet.
Interesting. I could see me dying of sedentary lifestyle, over (vs under) -eating and insufficient exercise. In fact I need to plan-in exercise during especially gruesome projects, like that I mentioned earlier, though fortunately the nicer hotels have fitness centers and often with magnificent equipment. I'm an elliptical machine fan.
Still, when onsite, we are pressured to work crazed hours, from 7:30am to about 7:30pm, to maximize the time. Not every day, but "enough." Hence my point: you're in for fifty-sixty hours/week by default, and a weekend day if you're not careful, all because ...it's expected, in modern business.
And I find that for the birds.
That attitude has probably cost me consideration for a promotion or two, I do suspect, so one needs to decide "is it worth it." I guess, going the Japanese, I am a "salaryman" by letter of the definition, but will not go 過労死 if I can help it. Perhaps in Japan I would be considered a slacker, then, and culturally might face a lot of unpleasant social pressure...
Therefore, I am asking what is wrong withe me? If people from countries like India and China can do that work and be successful, then why can't I be as successful as most of them?
Nothing wrong with you.
Something's wrong with where you live. You live in Seattle.
Move to flyover country. There are tons of tech hubs across the country. Chicago. Austin. Boston. Many more.
As a techie, I would NEVER work in Seattle or Silicon Valley. Out of touch locations.
Companies aren't hiring these people because they're stupid. . .
They're hiring them because they're cheaper.
When the US Citizens have to clean up their messages, their productivity goes down and oops, they get poor performance reviews for something that's not their fault, and then laid off.
Then they can hire more cheap labor to replace them.
When the US Citizens have to clean up their messages, their productivity goes down and oops, they get poor performance reviews for something that's not their fault, and then laid off.
Then they can hire more cheap labor to replace them.
I see a pattern. Do you?
The idea that incompetent foreigners are being hired, that US workers have to fix all of the problems caused by the foreigners, and that companies are hiring the aforementioned foreigners because they are cheaper, is just ridiculous.
From a previous post of mine:
Quote:
There is no price sufficiently cheap to make incompetence acceptable.
The idea that incompetent foreigners are being hired, that US workers have to fix all of the problems caused by the foreigners, and that companies are hiring the aforementioned foreigners because they are cheaper, is just ridiculous.
From a previous post of mine:
Exactly. Why would Fortune 500 companies out multi million dollar computer systems in the hands of incompetent people? I think some people just want to believe all non-Americans are inferior.
Here are some posts that I've collected from various places. Make of them what you will:
I was watching the video from the outsourced Disney IT staffer. I’ve been hearing stories like this for several years. I have seen signs of it in my own specialty for quite a while, plus offshoring, along with people working very long hours because of short staffing. As an IT professional, I consider the misuse of H1B to be beyond disgusting. We’ve been told over and over by members of Congress that this is meant to fill areas where there are shortages of experienced people. Yet I go to events full of people in IT who can’t get work, I’ve even talked to hiring managers who are given such absurd rules of who they can hire that H1B turns into an option for them. I see job specs that are beyond absurd – all sorts of tech and business skills that take many years to acquire, yet they only want 1-2 years experience. You can smell the H1B excuse being put together.
What I don’t get; companies like Disney need customers who can afford their goods and services, yet they cut way back on their US jobs so heavily that sooner or later no one will be able to afford them. Super short sighted. And it is killing the middle class.
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I worked for AIG back in the 90’s, just after they had laid off most of their programming staff and sent their jobs to India.
It had absolutely nothing to do with the Indians being better programmers, they were cheaper.
Finally, after all these years, this nightmare is finally getting some attention.
I had a cousin laid off by AIG years back; wonder if there was any connection to H1B.
Old Hank Greenberg was a pioneer in offshoring. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did use H1bs too.
There was a lot of anger at the NJ data center after the layoff, but the remaining employees felt powerless to do anything.
There was high turnover and it was basically what I’d call a “sweatshop”.
GREED at the top. Other people can be (and are) greedy, but the upper-executives can actually DO something about padding their own pocketbooks, so they do. Their wages are already sky-high, but MORE $ is what they want, and a golden parachute to boot.
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Texas Public Schools have been using visa worker teachers for years. Other districts include San Antonio/Austin, Dallas/Ft. Worth.
Don’t know if other states are doing it.
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I posted one below about public school teachers…One I easily remembered because it was such a large lawsuit…I recall reading other stories of teacher trafficking in the Chicago area if I am not mistaken…and complaints of their older American teachers being pushed out who were vocal about it..It’s probably pretty widespread by now.
When I first started researching this stuff 4-5 years or so ago…it looked like Nurses and IT workers have been hit the hardest, with teachers on the chopping block right behind those professions. Also, the lawyer who gave the seminar on “how to avoid hiring Americans”…well that lawyer has heavy ties with government…and it looks like said law group is now focusing on medical professions as their target now…radiologists, etc etc etc. Doctors still have some safeguards though….they have their lobbying groups to offer protection…plus stricter rules of course due to quality concerns etc.
meanwhile, here in Texas, the texas workforce commission will tell you unemployment is 4.9% and everybody that wants to work has a job as there are plenty of jobs to go around – our silence enables this
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I was employed at Northeast Utilities. I had to train unqualified H1B individuals who would be taking my job as well as those of 219 other American IT workers at Northeast . When I was let go, my pink slip said I was laid off due to lack of work. Now, 3 years later my job is still there, being done by a H1B but guess who isn’t there – ME – the American IT who had to train the H1B worker who got to keep my job.
Just as a follow-up, I had to sign a non- disclosure document which stated that I would never reveal what went on at Northeast or I would be sued for my severance. I decided to not hide in the shadows but to talk as to what actually happened and the effects it has on the lives of those of us who get replaced by H1Bs.
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I get about 5 calls and 30 emails a day, all from Indian recruiters, and 99% of them horrible attempts to place me in a position that doesn’t fit my resumes or online profiles. And I mean dramatically; as in mandatory required skills aren’t listed even as buzzwords. They even ignore my header saying “Raleigh NC area only” or my minimum salary. I’ve learned a few things about this.
1. They always try to get you to call them, even though most have extremely poor communication skills and a text based medium like email or chat is far more effective. By talking to you, or by pitching a few month contract with no overtime or benefits on the other side of the country, it’s more likely they can determine your age or visa status. Since young people on visas are willing to move every few months just to stay in the country, or other Indians would not have a problem understanding them.
2. This is a false attempt to place me. The real goal is to be able to claim they performed a “local talent search first” by making sure you aren’t a fit and would never take the job. They can then push lesser qualified people under a visa. IF YOU RESPOND you are helping to provide them confirmation of their attempt.
3. They all seem to use the same mailing and unsubscribe service, and many send the same application form. It’s obviously from centralized sources.
I’m sure I’m not alone in this experience.
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I live in the greater Seattle area, which has a thriving, high-tech economy. One of the things that I notice is that people working at high-technology companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and others in living and working in Seattle and upscale Eastside suburbs like Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, and Issaquah tend to be disproportionately Asian, especially Indian or Chinese, or from other countries outside the USA.
Despite having earned several STEM education credentials, I have been unable to succeed at a technological or engineering job, while many other people from outside the USA have been able to achieve great success. That is why, for example, the upscale Eastside suburb of Sammamish, where many tech employees live and has an average household income of over $100,000, is 20% Asian, considerably higher than the percentage of population of people of Asian descent nationwide.
Therefore, why do people from ethnic groups such as Indian and Chinese do so well, and yet I have not been to achieve the level of success of most of these people despite having the advantages of growing up in a middle-class family in the USA and earning higher-level education credentials in supposedly marketable majors from top-tier American universities?
I don't know you, your qualifications or even the tech industry. But I disagree with the usual answer that foreigners will work cheap and that's why they do so well.
Tech is highly specialized and they are paying big bucks to people who are qualified and specialized in certain areas--apparently not so easy to find. Like everyone else, they want skilled people who will work hard and not complain a lot.
Friends just sold their home in a suburban area outside of Boston. There was a bidding war and it sold way over asking. The reason is that the area is full of extremely intelligent, experienced tech industry people with families who make very good money. The person who ended up buying the home is a high-salaried Russian who works for the new Cloud project in Massachusetts, involving many tech companies. These people are not paid peanuts--they are very well paid.
The 'tech' people I've worked with at various companies were pretty unimpressive and unambitious. Not saying you are at, but I think Americans have a reputation as being self-entitled and not exactly workaholics. Eastern Europeans and Asians are ambitious, eager to work hard, put a high value on education, and 'the American Dream' and all that.
It sucks for people in your position, but the competition is intense and it is not all based on 'how cheap will you work.' Americans have to up their game and values when it comes to work. Globalization is a fact--not a theory. Protectionism won't work. Possibly foreigners work harder? They won't even hire Americans at Trump's private resorts--only foreigners will do.
"...Tech’s biggest companies are placing huge bets on artificial intelligence, banking on things ranging from face-scanning smartphones and conversational coffee-table gadgets to computerized health care and autonomous vehicles. As they chase this future, they are doling out salaries that are startling even in an industry that has never been shy about lavishing a fortune on its top talent...."
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