Fred, > Your friend The Donald Trump doesn't think too highly of this (if/when he's > thinking, that is). His ambivalence and double-speak, of course, makes it > very difficult to know what he will really do over it: >
I have already provided a link in my previous post why Trump does not like how H1-B program is currently executed. Did you miss it? I fully agree with Trump's assessment of the H1-B program as currently executed. It is a rape of American jobs. Here is the link again: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/30/trump-poised-to-overhaul-work-visas-relied-on-by-silicon-valley-tech/ The H1-B program was really great when it was first launched back in the day. There was a reason why it was launched and I'll explain about it in a moment. But coming to your comment about "H-1B was good for you, but not for those coming after you. Okay, corporate greed didn't exist earlier, etc. This is the second-class passenger's syndrome ...." Fred - This is not really as plain and as simple as you make it out to be. I arrived in the US at time when there were plenty of openings for trained people and they were not displacing the locals. We did not have lottery system on H1-B program. Back then, most of the 65,000 annual visas never really maxed out either. In fact, a good number of these visas were going unfilled due to lack of skilled people. They were also paying on par (sometimes more) with the local salaries - unless you worked for some small time body shop. Corporate is not new. I believe it was always there, but they took their skill to the stratosphere when they realized they could simply abuse the H1-B program to bring in cheap foreigners legally, for about half the local salaries and displace the locals. The Second-Class Passenger Syndrome - is not what this is about. What Trump says (and I agree with him) is that you pay the foreigners the same or better salary and we can happily live ever after. The screwup right now is that American corporations are abusing the H1-B program to replace the locals with cheap foreign workers. The H1-B program was really meant to supplement American work force - Not replace Americans with cheap foreigners. So the new plan is to do away with the current lottery system and replace it with an annual auction. The intention is to grant H1-B visas to only those employers who can afford to pay the highest salaries. This way, Trump and others - would take away the incentive to bring in cheaper workers from outside, which the US corporations have been using to beef up their bottom line. Think of it this way - A builder wants to build a high rise in Manhattan. He thinks, he can bring in some really cheap "Ghantti's" from India to do the laborious work and pay them about half of the salary he would normally pay his American worker. This way, our theoretical builder could make a killing on the spread between the cost of hiring a foreigner versus a local. How would that sit with local Americans? As per Trump's plan, the Manhattan builder could certainly bring in workers from anywhere he wants, but the visa's he gives would be only to those builders who are willing to pay the highest salaries in Manhattan. In this scenario, our builder would most likely lose out to his competition as the other builders would most likely pay more (since its going to be an auction). Alternatively, the American employer may see that it is cheaper to hire a local than a foreigner. Currently, what is happening is that our theoretical builder is faking there is accute shortage of workers to build his skyscraper. Therefore, he says he can't get local talent. So he goes out and hires cheaper folks using H1-B visas. How would that sit with the local laborers? You get the point? Not yet? Let me take this discussion a step further. Lets say, the Goa government wants to build your massive bridge across river Mandovi. To cut the cost, the builder thinks he can get really cheap laborers from Bangladesh to build it. So he goes out and brings in really cheap guys from Bangladesh to complete the project. What do you think will happen? First of all, the Indian government will NEVER give you visas to bring in such foreigners. Secondly, even if they did, how would Indians (or Goans) like that? How would that personally sit with you? No self respecting politician would want to bring in foreigners when they have enough workers available locally. For too long the US has been run by pimps. Trump is changing that Business-As-Usual model. If you really need foreigners, then you should pay either equal to OR more than the prevailing local wages. If an American corp wants to displace a local by hiring a new H1-B worker, then Trump won't issue the visa unless the new guy is paid >= the salary of the existing guy. Its as simple as that. I was reviewing what Infosys founder had to say about a possible Trump action on H1-B visas and here is an extract: "Let us remember what India itself did a few years ago when UPA government was in power. At that time, when Chinese companies were charged with building power plants in India and they wanted to bring Chinese labour because there are very stiff completion targets, the Government of India said that you must give a minimum wage of $25,000 a year for construction workers for power plant builders. That was probably six or seven times the salary that we would pay such a person in India." Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/expert-view/indian-it-firms-smart-enough-to-find-solution-a-new-normal-likely-narayana-murthy-founder-infosys/articleshow/56969420.cms Coming to why the H1-B program was started: --------------------------------------------------------- American universities were NOT churning out fast enough as many Comp Science/Tech/Math graduates to fill in a sudden burst in computer software needs and other areas of expertize. To fill in the demand, American corps were bringing in foreigners on B1 visa's (Business Visa). These visa's let a foreigner stay in the US for a very limited amount of time (possibly 6 months or less - I don't remember the exact time). In addition, since the foreigners were really NOT classified as American workforce, they could not be taxed. Eventually, the US government changed that model to allow foreigners to come in on H1-B visa, but with the caveat they would be subject to payroll taxes. So it was a win-win situation for both sides ... until ... the proverbial greed set in. Cheers, Jim Fernandes Scarsdale, NY. On Thu, 2 Feb 2017 10:52:19 +0530, Frederick FN Noronha फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या *فريدريك نورونيا <[email protected]> wrote: > On 2 February 2017 at 05:05, Jim Fernandes <[email protected]> wrote: > ... ... > Jim, I understand that you're saying that H-1B was good for you, but not > for those coming after you. Okay, corporate greed didn't exist earlier, > etc. This is the second-class passenger's syndrome which the Indian > Railways is famous for. As long as I'm outside, please let me in. Once I'm > in, can't you find some other place to bloody-well get on to? Why crowd my > compartment? > > FN > --
