Reply to H1b visas. Anyone else work in technology and see the issues with this program and outsourcing?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’ve tried to explain it to my friends - it really is damaging to US workers - and they all think I’m xenophobic.

Pretty much every major US company spends tons and tons on technology- more than the average person probably realizes because it’s not obvious how complicated back end tech stacks have become- and most of those people (often through foreign companies with a small US footprint) are offshore around the world with a small US based team that is often 50%+ foreign too because of h1b visas. I see it every day, and I see how carefully companies set things up so the extent of it is not obvious.

I am not anti immigrant. But when I hear of US kids spending 400k on college degrees and then struggling to find work, it bothers me.

Companies do not train people, there seems to be zero incentive. Why? [/quote]

I think there is much more nuance than you say but I completely agree with what you say about training. But to your frustration at being called xenophobic...

Historically, H-1B program has had strong support from the businesses and corporations looking for less expensive labor. We are talking Republicans or Democrats, but certainly the majority of the Republican establishment. The program was opposed by labor oriented Democrats, concerned with protecting domestic workers getting hurt by foreign labor. Trump upended the world so that MAGA now hates immigrants more than it loves big business (except for the billionaires whom Trump helps in so many other ways that it renders such details irrelevant).

In sum, of course H1B was always considered GOOD for business, not great for the American worker. This isn't new. As a lifelong democrat I am more than fine prioritizing the worker over the interests of the big business. HOWEVER, when Trump imbues everything with anti-immigrant rhetoric, he alienates the people who would otherwise support this move. In other words, when you are so full of racism and hatred people don't support you even when you occasionally have a reasonable idea.

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I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said but I guess my point is that it is a bigger issue than I think most people realize. One of my friends argued that she works with non Americans and ‘they bring so much to the table, culture’ etc, and Americans need to ‘build their skills’ up if they want to stay relevant, etc. and I was trying to point out to her that in her particular industry- which has all sorts of built in regulations and defenses against foreign labor- non Us citizens make up maybe 5% of the work force. But in my tech world, it is easily 70%+ and the Americans being replaced would be happy to ‘build their skills’ but there is almost no opportunity.

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