U.S. lawmakers have asked major U.S. companies including Apple, Amazon, and JPMorgan on Thursday to explain why they are hiring thousands of foreign workers on H-1B visas while cutting other jobs.
Reuters:
The letter comes after the Trump administration announced last week that it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B visas, which allow businesses to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. The U.S. has also released a proposal that would rework the H-1B visa selection process to favor higher-skilled and better-paid workers.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, asked 10 major employers for detailed information on the number of H-1B workers they employ, the wages they are paid, and whether American workers have been displaced in the process.
“With all of the homegrown American talent relegated to the sidelines, we find it hard to believe that Amazon cannot find qualified American tech workers to fill these positions,” the senators wrote to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.
India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to government data.
MacDailyNews Take: India will come to the table on trade and this will be the bargaining chip that swings the deal.
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If a company is firing more than 2-3% of their workers in any sector, they should not get H-1B visas for that sector. (Fire all the HR, marketing, and advertising execs you want, but not highly trained, experienced positions.)
H-1B visa workers should be guaranteed at least a median wage for that position. Maybe the government should insist that H-1B visa holders are always in the 80th percentile or something.
H-1B visa workers should be guaranteed third party mediation if they suspect their wages aren’t competitive.
H-1B visa workers should be guaranteed some kind of freedom of movement if they can show their compensation is not competitive. Companies shouldn’t be able to kick H-1B workers to the curb if they point out any kind of exploitation.
Any company accepting H-1B workers in any department, can’t fire or “retire” workers in that department for 2-3 years.
$100K seems excessive–after all, we do want the best and brightest to come to the USA—but in no way should H-1B visas be allowed to artificially depress workers compensation.
No company should be able to have more than 5% of its employees on H-1B visas.
Companies asking for H-1B visas must offer significant scholarships, apprenticeships, or work-study programs to American employees to acquire the education/training/degrees necessary in those areas which they claim lack qualified American workers.
Companies asking for H-1B visas must donate significant resources to local schools to enhance or kick-start programs in those fields which they claim lack qualified American workers and work closely with those schools to provide apprenticeship programs.
Also this:
In a 2011 interview with biographer Walter Isaacson, Jobs revealed that he had met with US President Barack Obama, complained about the nation’s shortage of software engineers, and told Obama that he was “headed for a one-term presidency”. Jobs proposed that any foreign student who got an engineering degree at a US university should automatically be offered a green card. After the meeting, Jobs commented, “The president is very smart, but he kept explaining to us reasons why things can’t get done … It infuriates me”
The $100K fee should be yearly.