WinkenBlinkenAndNod (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Good piece Susan, it is obvious that the roles are not reversed in any way. You would be hard pressed to be able to be hired by an Indian company for anything at all let alone IT work at any wage. Their system does not allow it period.The h1-b abuse is clear when you take into account that even the lowest IT jobs, desktop support etc.. account for the largest amount of h1-b replacements workers. It used to be called human trafficking, and was once illegal.

SusanDreamer2000 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Let me respond to your points one bye one. 1. You do not need to prove you have exceptional skills in order to get it. The visas are allocated by lottery. 2. A company does not have to prove that they couldn't find any American who could do that job. Its true - look it up, verify it for yourself. 3. I have never seen a situation where bilingual was an issue. 4. It is 65,000 employees per year in one single industry (not spread throughout the economy), they are all Java programmers or similar.

SusanDreamer2000 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

No thats not what I meant. First of all I disagree that they should be considered equally, I think the citizen should be given preference. But thats not my point, my two points are that there is no labor shortage. And that these workers are being used to lower the wages of (and actually displace) citizens. Both are independently verifiable facts. And thats not good.

Romani1969 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

They give out only 60k H-1B visas per year. You need to prove that you have exceptional skills in order to get it, and the company has to prove that they couldn't find any American who could do that particular job. Many of those 60k who get the jobs are also hired by companies that need bilingual or trilingual people (good luck finding that in the US). I think 60k is nothing. If Americans can't get jobs is because many are too lazy and settle for a lesser quality jobs.

kmgawande (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

well I did not mean "ahead" ..i meant that US citizens and foreign workers should be considered equally. your statement "I believe that jobs in the US should go to US citizens. " necessarily means there will be no foreign worker in the US ? is that what you really meant? it would be interesting to see US without a single foreign worker..you might want to reconsider that stand

SusanDreamer2000 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

If a company can send its job overseas it will, there is absolutely nothing stopping them. The H1B option does not enter that equation, so that is not a logical argument.My contention is that there is no labor shortage, and that the H1B program lowers wages. Do you disagree?I believe that US citizens should have a priority when it comes to jobs here in the US, and right now they do not. Right now there are lots of well educated engineers are out of work.

SusanDreamer2000 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

I agree with you except for the part about every business owner is justified in following that & hiring an H1B worker ahead of a US citizen. I believe that jobs in the US should go to US citizens.

crig2000 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Susan, this is a globalized world. Do you want that the companies leave altogether to India or China and that you do not have any job at all? Remember that probably your grandparents or great-grandparents immigrated to this country. Would you have liked that they would have been treated like you treat immigrants? thanks

kmgawande (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

H1B workers provide the same/higher level of service compared to US citizens for the same tasks. I think the basic principle in business is minimize cost, maximize value. any and every business owner is justified in following that & hiring an H1B worker ahead of a US citizen. The fact is that an H1B worker is almost always paid lower than a US citizen for the same job title. If you really think scrapping H1B visa is the solution.you're wrong. American businesses survive on low cost foreign labor

SusanDreamer2000 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

So these visa's are so unfair they are on par with plunder and subjugation? Yes we agree.