What will an H-1B cap hike bring to U.S.?

[OhioChick]

Leading critic warns of 'internal (U.S.) brain drain' as foreign competition rises for American tech jobs

January 31, 2013 07:10 AM ET

Computerworld - WASHINGTON -- Ten U.S. senators this week agreed to sponsor a bill that would allow the annual H-1B visa cap to rise to as high as 300,000, leaving opponents and some researchers concerned.

Under the proposal, the cap would begin at 115,000 and rise as H-1B demand increases or fall when it slackens. Critics say the plan would escalate problems already faced by U.S. workers.

Adding more entry-level and young H-1B workers may boost offshoring and put pressure on wages, increase age discrimination and discourage U.S. students from entering the IT business, say opponents.

The Senate proponents say the H-1B visas are needed to fill critical jobs and keep the U.S. competitive. The visas give companies the ability to hire who they want.

More: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9236396/What_will_an_H_1B_cap_hike_bring_to_U.S._

Snip~ "At a 2011 House hearing on H-1B visa issues, U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said she had asked the Labor Dept. for a report the average wage for computer system analysts in her district. The result: $92,000 overall for entry level workers, but department also reported that the entry level rate prevailing wage rate for an H-1B worker was $52,000. "We can't have people coming in and undercutting the American educated workforce -- that is just a problem," Lofgren said."

[hollysmom]

1. that's how so many of my friends lost their jobs.

That and outsourcing computer centers

[antigop]

2. Professor Norm Matloff's Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software Labor Shortage

A great list of materials.
http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/glut.html

[flamingdem]

3. Oh just peachy

sure just let'em in because we have SO many spare jobs here ..

[SunSeeker]

4. K&R

[grahamhgreen]

5. Less jobs, obviously.

[ramapo]

6. Unbelievable....where's the outrage

There is so much angst and controversy over 'illegal' immigration but the legal H1-B visa has cost countless thousands of Americans their jobs. I have been in I.T. for a long time and remember in the early 1990s when the increase in H1Bs was justified as a 'temporary' measure to help ease demand while Americans trained to fill the ever increasing number of technology jobs.

Instead, H1-Bs undercut wages and created the foundation for the outsourcing and offshoring of so many IT jobs. I personally know dozens of people who lost their jobs to H1Bs and went from having challenging, well-paying jobs to positions like making bagels.

But there has been bi-partison support for ever increasing H1-B quotas. Hillary Clinton was all for it. She also got lots of contributions from groups with an interest in increased quotas. This issue just makes me crazy. It flies under the radar of nearly all Americans, even many who have been or might be directly affected by it.

[antigop]

7. amazing, isn't it? nt