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For the new political order taking shape in Washington, however, H-1Bs aren't quite welcome. Amid promises of sweeping changes to immigration policy, President-elect Donald Trump and his choice for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), have tabbed the program for a major overhaul, and might even scrap it altogether. In the House, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is on the same wavelength.
Trump has described H-1Bs as a "cheap labor program" subject to "widespread, rampant" abuse. Sessions co-sponsored legislation last year with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) to effectively gut the program; Issa, a congressman with Trump's ear, released a statement Wednesday saying he was reintroducing similar legislation called the Protect and Grow American Jobs Act.
Sessions and Issa's legislation primarily targets large outsourcing companies, such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, that receive the vast majority of H-1B visas and use them to deploy workers to American companies seeking to cut costs. In 2015, the top 10 recipients of H-1B visas were outsourcing firms. As recently as 2013, the Justice Department, which Sessions stands to take over, settled with Infosys for $34 million in a visa fraud case.
If they were smart they'd change the program to maximize brain-drain from other countries by making H-1B a fast-track to citizenship instead of the 6+ year wait for a green-card that it now is. Bring in the best of them rather than the cheapest of them and let them compete on equal footing rather than the indentured servitude of the current H-1B program.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday January 11 2017, @01:25AM
This one isn't quite true: H1B holders often get paid at least somewhat in the same ballpark as their US-born counterparts. That's not why employers like having them though, much more the second thing you mention - they basically can't refuse their employer anything at all.
There has been some loosening of the rules to allow an H1B holder to change to another H1B job. This runs into a couple of practical limitations, though:
1. You have to get the new H1B job while you're still working your old one. If your about-to-be-former employer is pushing you well past 80 hours per week (not uncommon), the odds of finding the time to do a job search are pretty minimal.
2. Your new job has to be with an employer who is able to take on an H1B holder. Since there are more hoops to jump through than hiring US citizens, that means that your list of potential employers is much much shorter than a citizen would be able to look at. Small and mid-sized businesses in particular are probably out.
The rules changes aren't completely useless: They make it at least possible for an H1B holder to jump from, say, Apple to Google. But H1B holders are still quite limited in their ability to resist management's attempts to eliminate any vestiges of a life outside of work as so many are wont to do.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday January 11 2017, @02:49AM
There has been some loosening of the rules to allow an H1B holder to change to another H1B job. This runs into a couple of practical limitations, though:
1. You have to get the new H1B job while you're still working your old one.
Pretty much ties into my second point. I've been laid off a couple times, and it typically takes 3-6 months to find a job. Let the H1-Bs have that same flexibility. If they're good enough to find a job then good for them. If not, sux2bu.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 11 2017, @03:15AM
been laid off a couple times, and it typically takes 3-6 months to find a job.
Don't you mean it takes 3-6 years to find a job? Joblessness is not just for our homeless hero Michael David Crawford either. I know some people who lost their jobs as soon as Obama was elected and have been unemployed for the entire 8 years. For some it's the Great Depression all over again, without any hope of a New Deal yet. Apparently we learned absolutely nothing from the history of the 20th century.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 11 2017, @03:38AM
"Don't you mean it takes 3-6 years to find a job?"
I don't think so. It would take a little work to convince me of any such thing. There are a lot of different factors to consider, when determining how long it takes to find a new job. Among other things, the "job seeker" might be gaming the system. Prior to the mid-90's, for me to move from one job to another generally took a week or two. UNLESS I wasn't *really* looking for work. A few times, I made my mind up that I was going to sit at the house, and draw unemployment checks for a month or so. For me, back then, it didn't work out that way - people were calling me to come to work. It's hard to turn down good money, just because you would rather sit around and be lazy for a few weeks.
I realize times have changed, and jobs aren't so plentiful today. But, if it takes YEARS to find a job, then you are doing something wrong.
I'm not going to badmouth our Mr. Crawford here - but the man does have some problems that most people don't have. He is NOT a good example of typical job seekers in America. Hard working young people these days seem to balance two or three jobs at the same time. Jobs are available, if you really want a job. They don't PAY well, but they are available. If you live in the deep south, and you're holding out for a job that pays union scale, those jobs are few and far between. But if you want to earn a living, there is work to be done.
I'll add here, that at my age, if it ever takes me more than about six months to find a job, I'm just going to retire. Fek the rat race, I've run on this damned wheel long enough, LOL!
(Score: 1) by anubi on Wednesday January 11 2017, @09:37AM
Been there, did that.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday January 11 2017, @07:53PM
It entirely depends on what industry you're in, what your skills/qualifications/education are, and where you live, plus of course where you're willing to relocate to.
If you're a skilled developer living in Silicon Valley, then hell no; you can get a new job in a few days easily.
If you're a high school graduate with no real job skills living in Bumfuck, Alabama, then yes, you're going to have a hard time finding a job.
For these people who lost their jobs 8 years ago and have been unemployed ever since, where do they live and what do they do? Have they tried moving elsewhere for work? One thing I see a lot is people who absolutely refuse to move for work; they whine that the one company that employed people in their shitty little town folded up, but they refuse to go anywhere else because their family lives there and they really just don't want to leave. If you move to the economically prosperous metro areas (there's a bunch of them), there's lots of work available. But if your qualifications are bad, it probably won't pay well, the cost of living is higher, so you're probably going to need to get some roommates and live in a bad section of town.
Personally, I'm constantly bombarded by emails from recruiters who found some ancient version of my resume and still want to submit me for some contract job in various places around the country. No, I don't really want to take a 6-month contract in Erie PA, but if I were really desperate, that option is available to me and I'll probably easily get at a bare minimum of $50/hour for that. Lately I've been seeing a bunch of emails for automotive infotainment software jobs in Michigan. I wish these jobs offered remote work because some of the work sounds really interesting to me, but I really don't want to live in Michigan. But as I said before, if I were to become really desperate, options like this are available.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday January 12 2017, @09:42AM
With real-estate costs blown through the roof by cheap loans, while house negotiation fees are still the same fixed percentage of the selling price, a couple of trades will consume your equity damned fast.
I knew I was geolocking myself in when I bought a house.
If I was ever going to own the thing outright, I knew I had to avoid losing all my equity to the myriad of hands that will come to me, palms up, expecting payment for the services of checking off some tick-box on some form that the banks would require.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday January 12 2017, @05:09PM
Yep, home ownership now has gotten to be a much less attainable thing, unless you're in a position where you're making good money and (very importantly) you're extremely stable. That basically leaves out engineering and software industries. In the places where those jobs are so plentiful that "geolocking" (nice term, I like it) yourself in isn't a problem, the real estate prices are some of the highest on the planet (e.g. Silicon Valley) so they're probably not attainable by engineers anyway.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Wednesday January 11 2017, @03:15AM
Are you sure about this? I thought that the rules changed a few years back to allow H1-B holders 30 days to find a new job.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 11 2017, @03:40AM
I dunno if they made that change or not.
But, even if they did, 30-days is only going to be useful to the kind of person who could have lined up a new job before quitting anyway. Anybody quitting because they finally reached the end of their rope is probably just as screwed with 30-days to scramble for an H1B compatible employer as they would be with 0 days.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday January 11 2017, @04:22AM
Hadn't heard this, but 30 days is about how long it takes me to get off my ass, update my resume, shoot a couple dozen out, and wait for a reply.
There has been one time in my life when I got a job within 30 days of being laid off. I interviewed for a job, was pretty sure I got the job, rumor was company was going to have mass layoffs, I went to my boss and volunteered, got laid off, got 4 weeks severance, and had a job within a week.
Best part? The jobs were across the street from each other. I walked to work, a 20 minute walk. Co-workers used to laugh at me as I'd read the newspaper to work with my headphones on.
Moral of the story? Takes a good 3 months to find a job unless you're lucky as hell.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.