H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smoothes way for techies

San Jose Mercury ^ | October 8, 2018 | Ethan Baron

[artichokegrower]

Two weeks: That’s how quickly a foreign technology worker in Silicon Valley can get an employment permit from Canada. In the U.S., that process takes months.

As the administration of President Donald Trump has increased scrutiny of H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers and plans to ban their spouses from holding jobs in the U.S., Canada has been moving aggressively to suck top foreign talent out of Silicon Valley and other technology-rich regions of the U.S.

[vette6387]

“There is no possible way anybody can tell me there Americans are not qualified to do these white collar non-tech jobs or that Americans don’t want those jobs. “

As a staunch Capitalist, I have come to see it’s failings in that we have allowed the relatively few very large companies of all stripes to continue to use their size ( and seemingly ample government support ) to gobble up their smaller competitors to t the point that they are complete monopolies led by people who don’t regard America as a country, but rather a very big market and our people not as citizens, but rather just “their customers!” And seemingly, our so-called “anti-trust” laws have fallen into disuse. Capitalist looses it’s “vibrance” when allowed unfettered growth for the few. If you put me in charge, you would see the mega companies broken into little bitty pieces, and the “social media” giants heavily regulated. Why have newspapers all over the country where the only difference is their mastheads. With their content, apart from the obituary column coming from New York City, Chicago or perhaps Los Angeles. Ditto for network TV/telecom.

[Mr. Jeeves]

I'm not sure the preference for foreign workers would end. I was at a birthday party the other night for a friend who had been a high executive in the semiconductor industry - recently retired. Many of his still-employed colleagues were there. The topic of hiring came up and all of the hiring managers from this large multi-national firm were unanimous that they could not find nearly enough American engineers to get the job done - without the ability to hire young Chinese and Indians their company would quickly collapse.

I don't think they were lying. The problem is - it is the industry's fault for allowing themselves to get into this situation in the first place. American companies - to save money - left education to the universities decades ago instead of running their own apprenticeship programs, as they used to.

There isn't much point these days in complaining that the Communist Academy is not giving you the workers you need - you have to find a way to hire the brightest 18-year-olds before universities ever get a chance to poison their minds.

[ncalburt]

Lets get the buses lined up and send these invaders north now .

[txrefugee]

Haha…that’s going to be a big adjustment for workers from India. CA was a lot more like home.

[nwrep]

Don’t they have other coffee besides Tim Hortons in Canada?

[Savage Beast]

So...? Home-grown techies will do quite nicely.

[kabar]

I don't think they were lying.

They were lying. The US produces more STEM workers every year than it needs.

Is There a STEM Worker Shortage?

What's Wrong with This Picture: Three-Quarters of Silicon Valley Workers Are H-1Bs?

[BuffaloJack]

Good points for obtaining H1Bs but there’s also retaining them.
If you have to lay people off, it’s cheaper to do if they’re American. American’s only get severance, H1Bs not only get severance, but repatriation and moving expenses.

[YouGoTexasGirl]

Spoiled children from age 3 or so is yet another cause. Rooms overflowing with toys so they are ADHD just playing in their rooms, no focusing and mastering one or two toys. Also, parents work and want their kiddos to be top of their class and sports figures. Where are these kiddos during the day? At pre-schools from age 3. Almost everything is managed for them and organized time slots for play and learning time. Relatives are not there daily to assist with the kids and parents do not follow Jesus’ direction to not hinder the children to come to Him. So, just lack of depth in spirit and soul.
Compare to Asians and Indians. Many small houses contain many family members. Grandparents take care of children while parents work. They are at the home after school vs. after school care until mom or dad pick them up after work. So, by the time our brightest are in one year of college, many of them burn out from over committed schedules and no one to organize their time.

I noticed at a company in San Jose. The only whites seem to be over 40 years and up to 70 years old. 9 to 1 Asian/India.... And, by the way, younger Chinese are much kinder and ethical than younger Americans all told and seem to have less joy even with Tesla toys!

[FLT-bird]

The example you cited may well be true. I acknowledge we have a shortage of engineers and of highly qualified/educated people in Information Technology.

The problem is this is the universal excuse used as to why we “need” to hand out H1B visas like cotton candy, and then I see particularly the banks (though I suspect the same is true in other industries) packed full of H1B Indians in non tech jobs who I know are working for below market rate contract rates. I know the work they are doing too. It is overwhelmingly not tech jobs. They’re very often doing the kind of work that 20 to mid 30 something American college graduates and grad school grads should be doing, are capable of doing, and want to do.

Its not just that this hurts Americans today which it undeniably does, it is also that these jobs I speak of are classic stepping stone jobs from which people gain experience and climb up the corporate ladder. America is not just a market, it is a country. The government of a country is supposed to act in the best interest of its own citizens IMO - not just what’s best for a few special interest groups, corporations, etc.

[freedumb2003]

>>Don’t they have other coffee besides Tim Hortons in Canada?<<

From the year I spent there, I would say:

No

[null and void]

Republicans need to move legislation mandating the salary level of H1B visas to be 20% HIGHER than the highest paid, non-executive employee in the company.

Japan has a similar system. If you cannot find a citizen with the skills you need, you should be willing to pay a premium to get someone with those skills.

Here? Well, let's just say on the job before my current one, I was replaced by THREE H-1Bs, count 'em THREE!

[HamiltonJay]

Hahaha, yea, go try to get a permit to work in Canada and see how “Easy” it is.... I have had several friends who have to visit Canada for work... they all told me, never tell them you are crossing the border for work.. always tell em its a vacation or something... or enjoy a lot of nonsense.

[HamiltonJay]

No, what they need to so is just end the program or add a TAX, equal to the VISA HOLDERS employees salary and benefits paid to the Fed.

There is no saving this program, it is wholesale abused, and need ended.

[gawatchman]

I am in IT and from what I see the H-1B scourge is killing America faster than anything else IMO.

[null and void]

Our neighbors are mostly Indian, and we get along fine. They're good, solid family first folk

I've been displaced by Indians on several occasions. I still like them. Go figure...

[Republic_Venom]

If you are so inclined, to work at any IT department in any utility company in Canada. They are unionized...an Oracle db analyst makes CA$145K/year.
Can’t be fired.

[freedumb2003]

>>I have degreed friends with 10+ years experience who can’t get a job in the USA in tech because h1-B visa will work for 1/4<<

I flag the BS flag. H1-Bs are about 2/3 of USA wages.

Although that is significant it doesn’t bother me b/c Indians can’t actually CREATE anything. They excel at duplicating things — slavishly mind you.

Example: Report A needs a new subtotal break, but wants the original report. Indian solution: Copy Report A to create Report B and add the new break.

My (and most American developers) solution: Add an option to Report A to include (or not) the new subtotal.

Why is My option superior? If changes are made to the complexity of the report they need only be made to Report A. The Indian solution requires the IDENTICAL changes to Report A AND Report B (and I have seen this scenario with 10!!!! copies of the same report program).

The Indian solution is always to fix what is in front of them and not worry about the bigger picture. It is why Deloitte lost a $100 million Dell contract and BE lost a $250 million lawsuit to The Carlyle Group and went BK.

The cheap comes out expensive.

Anyone who claims they are priced out by H1B just means they are not good at what they purport to do.

[ssaftler]

Requiring the pay of H1B workers to be at a premium to American workers would ensure that companies would only apply for H1B visas for employees they actually needed

Simpler still would be to require all on-shore workers, either Americans or H1B employees/contractors, to be paid at the same scale. And, to be fair, all taxes (federal and state, Social Security/Medicare, and unemployment) must be collected and paid for the H1B folks, same as American W-4 employees.

The real crime is that large companies, and I'd bet your bank is included, simply set up off-shore subsidiaries to run their back-office operations. They can simply and easily hire local "talent" at about 20 cents on the dollar, which is big money in the 3rd world. No H1B problems, no housing problems, and a lot fewer U.S. employees. Solve THAT problem (and I think Trump is, to some extent) and the H1B problem might just solve itself.

For what it's worth, I was victimized by the off-shore subsidiary problem some years ago, so I know how it works. Worse yet, I got to participate in the hiring and training of the bozo before I got kicked to the curb.

[Gay State Conservative]

I live near a huge suburban apartment complex that's just chock full of Indians.It seems unlikely that they're here illegally and,given that it's an easy commute to some really hi tech companies,I can only assume that they're here on H-1B visas.