10 ms·
For those not reading the linked article, it was not about tech (although valid discussions here). I had not expected this (this is about rural Alaska): > “In
by jorgen123 3mo ago
For those not reading the linked article, it was not about tech (although valid discussions here). I had not expected this (this is about rural Alaska):
> “In some rural districts, visa teachers make up 50% to nearly 80% of the teaching staff. School districts already invest $6,000 to $12,000 per teacher to recruit and sponsor educators through the H-1B visa process. Adding a $100,000 federal visa fee has made it financially impossible for many districts to continue hiring the teachers their students depend on.
- Izikiel43 3mo agoYeah, most of us think of tech, but the program affects doctors, nurses and teachers for rural America.
- infecto 3mo agoWhich is sadly very ironic.
- bijowo1676 3mo agoThis was the most infuriating part. Big Tech has multiple carveouts to bring tech labor using F1/J1/L1/O1/EB-1 and various other visas, and they wouldn't even feel the 100k fee given their budgets. While non-tech sectors were the ones most affected
- whateverboat 3mo agoNot refuting your point but... Most people who work in tech are not eligible for O1 or EB-1. F1 is a student visa, J1 requires you to go back after finishing your stuff. L1 can actually work but needs to be converted to either H1b, O1 or EB1 at some point soonish.
- bijowo1676 3mo agoPlenty of people in tech work on O1 and EB1. F1 is probably the biggest feeder pool for H1. J1 does not always require coming back, it requires return only when funded by US government program, and return requirement can otherwise can be waived, esp if J1 is unfinished
- Izikiel43 3mo ago> it requires return only when funded by US government program Not true, I had J1 visas without US government program intervention and I still had the home requirement. Since there wasn't any US government intervention I was able to get a waiver for the home requirement, but it took a couple of months.
- alephnerd 3mo agoAnd it's not just education - nurses, doctors, and plenty of engineers in the Energy, Mining, and Construction sector are also brought on H1Bs to Alaska. Edit: can't reply > Are they also using traditional incentive methods, like signing bonuses, for domestic prospects Yes. I have a good buddy of mine who is senior management at an ANRC and they will pay 6 figure salaries to non-natives irrespective of citizenship in a number of cases. Heck, even the starting salary for unskilled federal roles like TSA agents at Utquiatvik was $70K last I was there versus $30-40k in the rest of the mainland. Much of Alaska is literal villages that are disconnected from the outside world aside from the occasional bush plane, and amenities are nonexistent. You are talking about towns and villages where most of the residents are entirely depending on UBI (Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend) and subsidence hunting/farming. As such, it's not enticing. Also, a number of Alaska Natives prefer hiring Thai and Filipino immigrants over Americans (who statistically tend to be White, Black, or Hispanic) because if you're hiring outsiders you may as well hire outsiders who look like you and are viewed as more culturally aligned.
- imglorp 3mo agoAre they also using traditional incentive methods, like signing bonuses, for domestic prospects?
- cryptoegorophy 3mo agoNot from USA, is there shortage of teachers in USA? Or government pays too little to have local teachers consider such jobs? Seems like a broken system
- nemomarx 3mo agoTeacher pay is low, but it also requires certification and a degree. And in exchange it will be relatively stressful and lacking in prestige.
- pastel8739 3mo agoAnd long hours!
- trelane 3mo agoMy favorite teacher strike was when the teachers stopped doing work when they weren't being paid. The district quickly caved.
- TylerE 3mo agoThe "Alaska" bit is very important. Very remote, very cold. Everything is very expensive because almost all of it has to be shipped in by air. Yes, the US teacher pay is generally crap and we're short on teachers everywhere, but Alaska is a rather unique situation. It's 16% of the US's land area, but only 0.2% of the population.
- Rebelgecko 3mo agoLittle bit of both. Pay varies drastically from state to state, even taking cost of living into account. By the time you pay for a degree and a credential the ROI isn't great. Jobs in better paying areas exist too but are understandably more competitive
- brudgers 3mo agoRural Alaska is by and large very very remote. Often small plane is the only practical access and then only in favorable weather. Recruiting teachers to remote villages with extreme weather is hard and if you are at US university training to be a teacher you will probably have other options that are more attractive as a young person.
- wyager 3mo agoIsn't the entire point of this order to prevent filling low-paying jobs with cheap foreign labor, in order to increase demand for domestic labor? "Rural district schoolteacher" sounds like exactly the kind of job where the H1B program has very low public support
- fg137 3mo agoYou have been terribly misled.
- randyrand 3mo agoThere are an excess of teachers in the USA already. It’s a big reason they aren’t paid that well. No good reason to import them except to pay them even less.
- culopatin 3mo agoBut evidently they don’t want to move to rural America.
- jojobas 3mo agoHardly an argument to import teachers on work visas.
- bijowo1676 3mo agoso you want to leave rural children without teachers?
- SecretDreams 3mo agoI think the commenter is volunteering to go themselves.
- jojobas 3mo ago[flagged]
- bijowo1676 3mo agoI find your reference to "third worlders" a bit offensive and racist. "First worlders" (whatever that means for you) also do apply for H1B visas, just FYI. If you imply that teachers on visa are somehow inferior or worse then citizen teachers (non-existent btw since noone is volunteering for Alaska gig), you are either being terribly misinformed or just bigoted.
- 3mo ago
- Integrape 3mo agoReminds me of the plot from North Exposure.
- Integrape 3mo ago*Northern Exposure