Congress will consider proposal to raise H-1B minimum wage to $100,000

[Jimbo101]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/01/the-new-plan-to-stop-h-1b-visa-abuse-give-them-a-big-raise/

President-elect Donald Trump is just a week away from taking office. From the start of his campaign, he has promised big changes to the US immigration system. For both Trump's advisers and members of Congress, the H-1B visa program, which allows many foreign workers to fill technology jobs, is a particular focus.

One major change to that system is already under discussion: making it harder for companies to use H-1B workers to replace Americans by simply giving the foreign workers a raise. The "Protect and Grow American Jobs Act," introduced last week by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. and Scott Peters, D-Calif., would significantly raise the wages of workers who get H-1B visas. If the bill becomes law, the minimum wage paid to H-1B workers would rise to at least $100,000 annually, and be adjusted it for inflation. Right now, the minimum is $60,000.

The sponsors say that would go a long way toward fixing some of the abuses of the H-1B program, which critics say is currently used to simply replace American workers with cheaper, foreign workers. In 2013, the top nine companies acquiring H-1B visas were technology outsourcing firms, according to an analysis by a critic of the H-1B program. (The 10th is Microsoft.) The thinking goes that if minimum H-1B salaries are brought closer to what high-skilled tech employment really pays, the economic incentive to use it as a worker-replacement program will drop off.


H.R.170 - Protect and Grow American Jobs Act (text)

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/170/text

[Larkspur]

1. This has been an idea floated around for a long time and I agree with it.

Raising the salary of H-1B workers to be in line with what Americans would be paid will take a major chunk out of the base economic reason to displace American Tech workers.

[B2G]

2. They'll just offshore more jobs.

Dirt cheap to hire tech in India.

[greymattermom]

4. Also, what about student loans?

I'll bet that the H1B and offshore tech folks from India aren't paying off huge student loans.

[Trekologer]

6. The trend has been away from offshoring

Managers who are not completely incompetent have realized that offshore outsourcing to a firm in vastly different timezones doesn't work. The reason is that communication is always delayed and you often wait a day or more for responses. So the solution to that has been to have the contractor bring a bunch of H1B's on site.

[B2G]

7. Not in my company

We're offshoring like mad. We have to adjust to the time difference. And yes, it's a PITA.

When you have an international presence, you are expected to accommodate time differences in both the business and IT.

[uponit7771]

8. The offshored jobs slow operations down to near halt on fast fixes, I doubt post deployment ...

... there will be much offshoring.

[Bengus81]

3. Wouldn't 100k STILL be cheaper than what many make...

that have say been with MS for years?? Sounds to me like a good step but should be much higher. Plus are these really employees or just part timers with zero company benefits? If so it would still be cheaper many times to pay the 100k and can the person who has been there for years.

[WinkyDink]

11. WTH?! Yet the people who clean their damn offices make what....$15K a year? Republicans can raise

these IT wages for foreigners but not Minimum Wage for our own working poor?

AND SOME PEOPLE HERE ACTUALLY THINK THIS IS NOT ONLY OKAY, BUT THE TECH MINIMUM IS STILL LOW?!

Man, no wonder I don't visit DU as much as I used to.

[2naSalit]

5. That's not bad for

a Russian import to do the hacking here.

[hollowdweller]

9. OK fixing H1b, bipartisan voting on importing drugs from Canada

Nothing shows that the GOP was obstructionist more than the fact they are voting for bills they would have rejected under Obama.

[WinkyDink]

10. WHAT THE HELL??!! You're telling me that some FOREIGNERS are GUARANTEED $60,000 NOW?! OMG.

Well, SO glad I never made $70K after 30 years of public school teaching.