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I usually don't comment on immigration policies because I'm a US citizen and have never been an immigrant worker, however I dont believe this affects the long t

by kirinan 11y ago

I usually don't comment on immigration policies because I'm a US citizen and have never been an immigrant worker, however I dont believe this affects the long term success or failure of the H1B visa program and nor should it. We do exist in a global economy and you must therefore compete globally. If a company feels that they can get equal talent to mine in another country for cheaper costs then so be it; I didn't do a good enough job selling my talent or showing why Im worth my rate. Its also the company's loss if they chose to lay me off; I know what Im worth and Ill go find what Im worth. Even without the H1B visa program, companies will still do this; whether or not the company can employ the employee on US soil or not. This is in no way threatening to my way of life or makes me fear for my future career prospects. It sucks that Disney did this to their employees, but companies are no longer loyal to their people and haven't been for a long time; you should act accordingly and not show any loyalty to a company that shows you none.

jbrooksuk 11y ago
"They had good performance reviews and none expected to be told they were being let go 90 days later." I think they all showed their worth, otherwise they'd have not had good reviews...
matwood 11y ago
> We do exist in a global economy and you must therefore compete globally. I completely agree, but that's not what the H1-B visa program does. It allows companies to lock in immigrant workers at a lower rate and little to no job mobility. From a companies standpoint it is obviously what they want - pay less, and job lock in! The fix for the H1-B is true immigration reform. We need to make it easy for people to come to the US and enter the job market just like anyone else.
- theklub 11y ago
  Why do we need to make it easy for people to come take our jobs? Why would we do that?
  - someone7x 11y ago
    I suppose the logic is that with the same bargaining power as domestic workers, there would be a lot less exploitation. By extension, "job taking" by underpaid foreigners would decrease but competition for jobs would increase.
    - protonfish 11y ago
      Exactly. I have worked with many new/aspiring Americans and have no problem with them and welcome the competition. The problem is that they have much more to lose, so they are open to abuse. If I don't like a job, I can quit, but they can be deported. Current immigration policy treats foreign workers like crap and nobody should have to compete with another worker with the same skills but with a government stamp that allows them to be treated like garbage.
  - kalkin 11y ago
    Who's "us"? I don't know you, and I have friends who aren't Americans who have been prevented by immigration policy from taking jobs here that I know they'd have been great at. Why should I care more about you keeping your job--just because we were born in the same politically defined geographic area? But if you need a self-interested explanation: because you don't want to be competing with people who have artificially-restricted bargaining power and so have to take lower wages. The H1B program as-is, like the old bracero program for farmworkers, is a "compromise" that benefits corporations at the expense of both native-born U.S. citizens and immigrants.
    - ta2938489 11y ago
      Why should you care? Possibly because you realize that undercutting your countrymen, the people you have to live with now regardless of whether they are employed or not, is something that makes your actual community now a worse place. Call it self interest, but I want to live in a society that is functional and with neighbors that are happy. The alternative is to retreat further and further into an affluent bubble. Then, I admit, you don't have to care.
xienze 11y ago
> If a company feels that they can get equal talent to mine in another country for cheaper costs then so be it; I didn't do a good enough job selling my talent or showing why Im worth my rate. Its also the company's loss if they chose to lay me off; I know what Im worth and Ill go find what Im worth. This is a very common line of thinking among the younger crowd. And especially in IT, since we all think we're brilliant ("I work at Google, I'm a pretty big deal"). The thing is though, one day in your 50s you ARE going to get replaced and it probably won't be because you suck, just that you're too expensive to keep around. And you may never get hired again. It DOES happen, and while a protectionism policy seems, like, totally unfair to everyone else, at the end of the day you have to look out for yourself.
sumedh 11y ago
> I didn't do a good enough job selling my talent or showing why Im worth my rate. Why would the company hire you, when they can get someone almost as good as you but ready to work for low salary because they dont want to live in India and are afraid to open their mouth because then the employer would send them back to India.
nickbauman 11y ago
If a country like the US were to open its floodgates to foreign workers most jobs, top to bottom, will be displaced by cheaper labor and wages would fall precipitously in the course of only a few years. Prices for durable goods, housing and land generally would not. The only question to ask is who exactly is served by this kind of policy? Rest assured not you, the worker.

by kirinan 11y ago

jbrooksuk 11y ago

"They had good performance reviews and none expected to be told they were being let go 90 days later." I think they all showed their worth, otherwise they'd have not had good reviews...

matwood 11y ago

> We do exist in a global economy and you must therefore compete globally. I completely agree, but that's not what the H1-B visa program does. It allows companies to lock in immigrant workers at a lower rate and little to no job mobility. From a companies standpoint it is obviously what they want - pay less, and job lock in! The fix for the H1-B is true immigration reform. We need to make it easy for people to come to the US and enter the job market just like anyone else.

theklub 11y ago
Why do we need to make it easy for people to come take our jobs? Why would we do that?
- someone7x 11y ago
  I suppose the logic is that with the same bargaining power as domestic workers, there would be a lot less exploitation. By extension, "job taking" by underpaid foreigners would decrease but competition for jobs would increase.
  - protonfish 11y ago
    Exactly. I have worked with many new/aspiring Americans and have no problem with them and welcome the competition. The problem is that they have much more to lose, so they are open to abuse. If I don't like a job, I can quit, but they can be deported. Current immigration policy treats foreign workers like crap and nobody should have to compete with another worker with the same skills but with a government stamp that allows them to be treated like garbage.
- kalkin 11y ago
  Who's "us"? I don't know you, and I have friends who aren't Americans who have been prevented by immigration policy from taking jobs here that I know they'd have been great at. Why should I care more about you keeping your job--just because we were born in the same politically defined geographic area? But if you need a self-interested explanation: because you don't want to be competing with people who have artificially-restricted bargaining power and so have to take lower wages. The H1B program as-is, like the old bracero program for farmworkers, is a "compromise" that benefits corporations at the expense of both native-born U.S. citizens and immigrants.
  - ta2938489 11y ago
    Why should you care? Possibly because you realize that undercutting your countrymen, the people you have to live with now regardless of whether they are employed or not, is something that makes your actual community now a worse place. Call it self interest, but I want to live in a society that is functional and with neighbors that are happy. The alternative is to retreat further and further into an affluent bubble. Then, I admit, you don't have to care.

xienze 11y ago

> If a company feels that they can get equal talent to mine in another country for cheaper costs then so be it; I didn't do a good enough job selling my talent or showing why Im worth my rate. Its also the company's loss if they chose to lay me off; I know what Im worth and Ill go find what Im worth. This is a very common line of thinking among the younger crowd. And especially in IT, since we all think we're brilliant ("I work at Google, I'm a pretty big deal"). The thing is though, one day in your 50s you ARE going to get replaced and it probably won't be because you suck, just that you're too expensive to keep around. And you may never get hired again. It DOES happen, and while a protectionism policy seems, like, totally unfair to everyone else, at the end of the day you have to look out for yourself.

sumedh 11y ago

> I didn't do a good enough job selling my talent or showing why Im worth my rate. Why would the company hire you, when they can get someone almost as good as you but ready to work for low salary because they dont want to live in India and are afraid to open their mouth because then the employer would send them back to India.

nickbauman 11y ago

If a country like the US were to open its floodgates to foreign workers most jobs, top to bottom, will be displaced by cheaper labor and wages would fall precipitously in the course of only a few years. Prices for durable goods, housing and land generally would not. The only question to ask is who exactly is served by this kind of policy? Rest assured not you, the worker.