The H1-B Visa program is a very controversial topic. In recent years, the feelings toward it have gone from confusion to a mere contempt. Currently, the controversy stands around the way companies are using the visas. The goal of the H1-B program is to allow companies in the US to fill tech role voids with working from overseas. However, regulations are in place in order to ensure that the program is beneficial. Each year, Congress caps the number of overseas workers being granted H1-B visas “at 85,000, 20,000 of which are allotted to workers holding a master’s degree or higher.”
Arguments both for and against the visa program exist and are all over the web. Those supporting the visas speak openly about the fact that immigrants can be some of the brightest and best – both Google and Tesla were founded by immigrants, not to mention many other firms both large and small. In fact, a new study “shows that immigrants started more than half of the current crop of U.S.-based startups valued at $1 billion or more.” Even without considering huge companies that have been incredibly successful, studies show that immigrant workers help boost sales, therefore economy, therefore even create jobs in the end. The US is the leading technical and innovative country, and many believe that bringing in immigrant workers through the H1-B program is a way to hold on to that title. Bottom line, “America can never get enough brilliant innovators.”
The talk about the program is not all positive, however. For one, we currently have way more STEM field graduates than we do STEM field positions in the workforce. Why, then, would we bring in thousands of immigrant workers to take jobs that can be filled by other US STEM workers? In a recent dispute at Disney that is still being fought, waves of layoffs were scheduled. In the first wave, over 100 IT workers were laid off. They were offered severance packages and bonuses, but the ONLY way they would be able to claim both was if they were to stick around and train their replacements – younger, cheaper immigrant workers – before leaving. People were infuriated by this, and seven of the employees involved have taken the case to court. Many people believe that companies are hiring the workers because they are cheaper and don’t require taxes that US workers would. The arguments around this point come down to this: “The program’s purpose is to find and retain talent that’s lacking in the U.S. economy, not a cheap alternative to American workers.” Arguments that say the US is in high demand of the immigrant workers are fought with simple supply and demand logic. “Since the early 2000s, wages for programmers have virtually stalled. Yet, we know when there is demand for programmers in the tech industry, wages rise…STEM careers respond normally to the laws of supply and demand; if there truly was a dearth of programmers and engineers, we’d see wages rise.”
After reading the articles, I am not in favor of the H1-B visa program. I believe that the program has negative repercussions on both sides of it. Many employers, though not all, are taking advantage of the program and hiring workers that will be paid less and require less benefits. This is very harmful to US workers who could be in those positions, earning higher wages and adding to the economy. The program isn’t great for immigrant workers either. Workers are dependent on their employers petitioning for visas for them, essentially trapping them in that job, possibly with a stagnant salary, for an indefinite amount of time. None of these outcomes are good ones. I would like to point out, though, that I am not against immigrant workers. I do believe that America should strive to have the brightest and best citizens as well as workers, and many immigrant workers fit into those categories. I simply don’t believe that the H1-B visa program is the way to go about that. Rather, I believe some sort of program including green cards is the correct process. Yes, it would be more tedious and take longer, but I feel that the benefits greatly outweigh the time needed.
Competition due to foreign workers and outsourcing will always be a concern. This past summer, I returned to my previous internship with the expectation that I would be working in another technical position, only to find out that they had outsourced almost all of their technical work, so I understand competition. But I feel that there will always be competition in the workplace, regardless of where it comes from. Some will always be better than others. If we as a country can find some way to place limitations on hiring cheap labor, and only allow hirings based on the fact that the new hires are in fact better than the old, then I don’t think competition is a reason to hold back.