Comment by RestlessMind | Hacker News Reader

Comment by RestlessMind | Hacker News Reader

As an Indian who spent a lot of years on H1-B visa, I welcome this move. Though while talking about this subject, one should bear in mind that "Indians on H1-B" are not a homogeneous group.

There are those, employed by the likes of AmaGooFaceSoft / Unicorns or graduating from mid-top tier universities, who will benefit by the proposed changes and who were indeed the "target audience" in mind when H1-B was linked to "getting high skilled immigrants in the US".

Then there are those who are transferred here in bulk by TCS/Wipro/Infosys/TechMahindra, who are paid the minimum H1-B wage possible, who jump from client to client across different states every now and then (true first hand accounts of my close friends) - these people are still mostly happy (cannot generalize though) to have the opportunity to work in the US for a few years and save, considering Indian salaries back home. While the individuals in this category might be getting a better deal, overall they become a pawn in "gaming of H1-B system" by Indian outsourcing companies.

Auctioning H1-B visas based on salary is a step in generally right direction. It may hurt low-paying industries relying on H1-B, but we can assess the impact on them and implement targeted fixes later if needed.

I've never understood why it is okay for outsourcing companies to "own" HIB visa people. A colleague told me long ago that it was like indentured servitude unless/until you could escape to a regular company that was willing to sponsor.

Imagine living under the fear that your visa can be canceled the next business day and you have to leave US soon before you have enough time to make alternative plans. Especially when you are a newcomer in the USA, a overwhelmingly unknown land. If this happens, then you have I believe 30 days to find another company who is willing to sponsor you and then you have to go back to India to reapply for another H1-B visa with new employer. Also, your outsourcing company keep a close eye on you in terms of if you are job hunting, in some s=cases there is some sort of collateral kept backhome as well. Also, if you are an average skilled employee then you don't have much leverage to jump ships.

>>There are those, employed by the likes of AmaGooFaceSoft / Unicorns or graduating from mid-top tier universities, who will benefit by the proposed changes and who were indeed the "target audience" in mind when H1-B was linked to "getting high skilled immigrants in the US".

Pray, educate us how modifying a XML or Json while working directly for AmaGooFaceSoft automatically makes you a 'highly skilled immigrant' and working through a outsourcing firm and doing the very exact same work doesn't.

The worst thing I have seen among Indians which often comes and bite us is to actively treat other people's work as beneath us.

By the way there are tons on projects in the outsourcing firms you mentioned which demand far higher quality and productivity than your ordinary project at AmaGooFaceSoft will ever ask. This is about work, not which company you work for. But I don't expect our fellow Indians to understand this any better given how we treat the social conditions we are born into as permanent positions for life. I can absolutely understand how some one with a job in AmaGooFaceSoft might think of people from outsourcing firms as lesser children of god, and they being masters of the universe, despite in many cases the former doing far better quality of work. In India workplaces are treated as status symbols for life and displayed on house nameplates and marriage invitations. So I realize the obviousness of 'they' vs 'us' context here.

If you don't speak up now, or take a stance just because it helps you, please note it well, you are next.

The only criterion for H1-B should be whether there are qualified Americans to do a certain task or not. If there are no Americans who can modify XML, then its totally fine to invite those who can. If there are plenty of Americans in the job market with deep skills about Distributed Systems, then do not grant visas to immigrants touting those skills. Simple!

Also, I won't be surprised if there are interesting challenges at outsourcing firms. But based on my own experience at one of these firms, I also know that folks working on these are pretty well paid, much above the level of H1B minimum wage. So they will still meet the elevated salary requirements.

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