I'm a single issue voter: who is protecting the american tech worker?
We should dismantle the H1B program if we are struggling to find roles for American youth.
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Dismantling H1B (imo) will lead to a more globally distributed tech market and that would harm American workers an order of magnitude more than the competition from H1Bs. You want to keep jobs in EST..PST, you want IRL collaboration to matter, you want concentration of jobs in tight geographies like SF.
Work is not charity, each H1B that comes to the US will bring twice or triple its income as US GDP.
It’s a net positive for America.
Given the civil unrest during the Covid lockdowns, I’d say robust domestic employment is good policy
The price that has to be paid for robust domestic employment got Trump 2 elected. You can’t have a tight labour market and expect to only pay pennies on the dollar for your burrito taxi.
There’s no solid evidence of that. In some aspects they can be a net positive sure but it’s modest.
Tons of evidence for it:
> The average H-1B household contributes $30,050 net annually — 2.6 times the $11,530 contribution of a typical U.S. household. At the state and local level, governments see a net average fiscal gain of $5,040 per H-1B household, with H-1B workers generating positive fiscal balances in 49 states. The fiscal benefits of the H-1B program are not exclusive to high-income states. The low-income state of Mississippi, for example, nets $4,600 per H-1B household — a figure that is higher than those of 21 other states.
https://eig.org/fiscal-impacts-h1bs/
> Despite its relatively constrained scale, the H-1B program has delivered economic returns far exceeding its original scope. Even under severe capacity limitations, estimates suggest the program generates $7.5–$31.8 billion in annual net benefits. Native workers experience wage gains rather than losses, while companies winning H-1B lotteries achieve higher job growth, productivity, and profit margins compared to similar firms denied visas.
https://www.csis.org/analysis/practical-h-1b-reforms-serve-u...
The fact is H1B workers are often more educated and better skilled than US citizens. In tech we care less about things like masters degrees and phds but the fact is H1Bs are more likely to have those and more likely to be appropriately skilled for jobs than US citizens. In general they are also richer than the avg US citizen in their society (that's how they can afford to move here for an advanced degree despite the currency exchange working against them)
We have the most important tech market in the world, extremely over represented by both usage and revenue just because of our ability to attract top talent from everywhere else, and that seems modest to you?
even when they make 6 figures, live in a tiny apartment with no furniture, and send back their whole paycheck in remittances each month?
or do you mean the old motel in the scenic locale you used to go as a kid, that has since been bought up by immigrants, has AI art peeling off the walls now and has gone without basic maintenance for 30 years?
Tax for this bracket approaches 50% all in. These are money-generating people.
But more generally H1B and immigration in general is America’s edge. If people stop coming expect us to lose leadership position in most markets
The world without them getting remittances every month from the USA is infinitely worse. War/problems abroad that didn't happen because of that remittances are worth trillions of dollars. There's no better form of "FDI" than remittances. Those who think remittances are bad for America are ontologically evil and may they reincarnate as durian fruit or cockroaches.
People don't realize the alternative to importing skilled labor is to not have someone do that job here. The idea that so many US citizens are qualified and sitting on the sidelines while an H1B takes a higher paying job than they currently have is a fiction.
> The idea that so many US citizens are qualified and sitting on the sidelines while an H1B takes a higher paying job than they currently have is a fiction.
I have worked with a lot of H1B in general enterprise and it makes 0 sense to me why the vast majority were ever allowed in under the program. There absolutely have been exceptions to this, but in general it's been awful.
Yeah, even then.
"America" doesn't pay bills, buy houses, raise kids, form communities. People do.
I am far beyond sick and tired of the pretense that higher national metrics somehow magically mean better quality of life for the citizenry.
If "America" doesn't deliver for its citizens, it will come to an ignominious end sooner than might be expected.
Net positive for the rich elites and a net negative for the working class. And considering the crap conditions H1Bs are often forced to work in under the threat of deportation, not really a benefit for them either.
If you believe this, then your foe is not the revenue producing H1Bs but the rich elites.
Of course. HB1s are doing what they think will give themselves and their families a better life, I would do the same, all ire is directed at politicians and governments and corporations.
Yes, so reform the H1B program entirely, since it has been abused by the elites.
>US will bring twice or triple its income as US GDP.
That is predicated on the assumption that "hurr GDP go up!" is good for America which is questionable at best and I take issue with far more than any specific point of immigration policy.
Probably 90% of my coworkers in a US tech company are on a work visa. Now that there is pressure on the H1B program, my company is investing in a permanent engineering team in India. Whether this will pay off for them in the long term is a matter of debate, but it seems like the near-term future of the US engineering team is in serious doubt.
You can't just "dismantle H1B" and expect it not to backfire.
Absolutely. Nearshoring alone could skyrocket
I don't disagree. My observation of at least one major large company is that rather than rely on h1bs they are instead building out offices in other countries and dramatically increasing hiring there. I doubt they are the only company doing that, but I don't see anyone talking about it.
Why only the youth? After the economy recovers we have ageism to look forward to.
That will do absolutely nothing at all - like nothing. If you want to be a single-issue voter you need to find candidates that will outlaw outsourcing (or make it financially prohibitive). problem is of course, you won't be able to find any.
Democrats slogan for upcoming elections should be "Americans First" with outsourcing being a key part of the platform - "while our opponents are pitching 'America First' that has miserably failed for Americans, we will change that." (they won't but good pitch :-) )