Posted on 10/29/2005 7:25:40 AM PDT by vrwc0915
It appears there is hard evidence to prove that employers are using the H-1B visa program to hire cheap labor; that is, to pay lower wages than the national average for programming jobs.
According to “The Bottom of the Pay Scale: Wages for H-1B Computer Programmers — F.Y. 2004,” a report by Programmers Guild board member John Miano, non-U.S. citizens working in the United States on an H-1B visa are paid “significantly less than their American counterparts.” How much less? “On average, applications for H-1B workers in computer occupations were for wages $13,000 less than Americans in the same occupation and state.”
Miano based his report on OES (Occupational Employment Statistics) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which estimates wages for the entire country by state and metropolitan area. The report’s H-1B wage data came from the U.S. Department of Labor’s H-1B disclosure Web site.
Miano went out of his way to be balanced, and whenever possible he gave the benefit of the doubt to the employer. For example, he used OES data from 2003 because this is the wage information that would have been available to the employers when filing an LCA (labor condition application).
Miano had some difficulty matching OES job codes with LCA job titles, which employers typically create. Where both the OES and the LCA listed a job as “programmer/analyst,” Miano took the conservative approach of assuming that the LCA was describing a programmer, a job title that typically earns a lower wage than a systems analyst.
Nonetheless, Miano’s report shows that wages paid to H-1B workers in computer programming occupations had a mean salary of $52,312, while the OES mean was $67,700; a difference of $15,388. The report also lists the OES median salary as $65,003, or $12,691 higher than the H-1B median.
When you look at computer job titles by state, California has one of the biggest differentials between OES salaries and H-1B salaries. The average salary for a programmer in California is $73,960, according to the OES. The average salary paid to an H-1B visa worker for the same job is $53,387; a difference of $20,573.
Here are some other interesting national wage comparisons: The mean salary of an H-1B computer scientist is $78,169, versus $90,146 according to the OES. For an H-1B network analyst, the mean salary is $55,358, versus the OES mean salary of $64,799. And for the title “system administrator,” there was a $17,478 difference in salary between the H-1B mean and the OES mean.
H-1B visa workers were also concentrated at the bottom end of the wage scale, with the majority of H-1B visa workers in the 10-24 percentile range. “That means the largest concentration of H-1B workers make less than [the] highest 75 percent of the U.S. wage earners,” the report notes.
While it would be difficult to prove that any one particular employer is hiring foreign workers to pay less, the statistics show us that, for whatever reason, this is exactly what is happening on a nationwide basis. Miano says lobbyists will admit that a small number of companies are abusing the H-1B program, but what he has found in this research is that almost everyone is abusing it.
“Abuse is by far more common than legitimate use,” he says.
“On average, applications for H-1B workers in computer occupations were for wages $13,000 less than Americans in the same occupation and state.”
so?
The intention is to destroy the middle class of this country and it is succeeding.
Basically, the problem with H1-B, I guess, is that although the per programmer cost is lesser, there is a net loss for the American economy since the money earned by the programmer will not be recycled back into the US economy via the tax system, as the programmer is not an American citizen.
I'm only guessing...
do you want $400 or $800 pc's?
i'm not saying it's good or bad, but if this doesn't happen this task will be totaly outsourced overseas, but then again if that happens it will be $200 pc's
Under Reagan we has "trickle-down prosperity".
For reasons known but to God, the current administration's immigration and work policies seem hell-bent on "trickle-up poverty".
Once the posting period is complete, the employer must attest that absolutely NO qualified US citizens applied for the job. In the event a US citizen applied (qualified or not), the applicant's name and rationale for refusal must be submitted with the LCA.
Given this very public process, I find it astonishing that there are no stories of specific neglect or discrimination against US applicants. Comparing wage reports can be an interesting exercise, but a more compelling argument against the H1B would include the names and faces of those wronged. It is not enough to claim that US citizens can do the work theoretically.
ping
It is a common misconception that foreign nationals working in the US do not pay taxes. They do. At the same rate as a citizen.
This is a way to keep the cost of wages down, nothing else. I hate to say but Ross Perot was correct, the "global economy" is going to kill America.
H1-B's pay income tax in the U.S.
Very true. The real issue is that the wages often don't get "recycled" in the U.S. economy, but are sent overseas.
The Indian and Pakistani tennis team guys we played against last week, aren't spending their paychecks at Home Depot to upgrade their houses, since they live in apartments. For an anecdotal example.
"Well, Bush is allowing a flood of illegals in to do the work at the bottom of the labor chain, driving down wages for the unskilled Americans"
Agree, but not just at the bottom. They have taken the 50,000 per year blue collar jobs from the middle class(except they are paid 35,000 with no benefits)
"I hate to say but Ross Perot was correct, the "global economy" is going to kill America."
Only because of what this administration is doing; it doesn't have to happen at all!!
Well, Bush is allowing a flood of illegals in to do the work at the bottom of the labor chain, driving down wages for the unskilled Americans, I see no reason to favor any group.
The intention is to destroy the middle class of this country and it is succeeding.>>>>>>>>>>>>>
What? I receive regular assurances from posters on FR that REAL wages in this country are higher than they have ever been and I believe every word of it, of course I also believe that the Great Pumpkin is going to bring me a new F-150 filled with bikini contest winners all eating pumpkin pie.
I forgot to mention, offshoring manufacturing industries to China, OTOH, is worse than daylight robbery, and a major failure for the security of America, and every other nation that faces a Chinese threat.
However, we all want sub-$500 PCs and dirt-cheap electronics, for which we all might have to pay a dear price in the near future...
These millions are CHEAP labor, undermining the lower working class of this country.
Business contractors, (capitalists), were using them and paying them below minimum wage. All of this has a habit of moving upward and it is the middle class that will suffer.
The elite will always have theirs and the middle class will wonder what happened when it hits them.
What does cheap PC's have to do with lowering the wages of programmers usings the H1-B program?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.