Why Bill Gates Is Wrong on H-1B Visas

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  skds03/14/08 Report as spam
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  Disagree

  I completely disagree with this article and agree with Bill Gates on the issue of H1-B. Companies needs to have the flexibility to hire the mostly productive people.
  
  That would seem shocking to those would read my feedback but from my experience foreigners work harder than anyone else. They don't do so simply to stay in the country but out of loyalty to their jobs and the quality of good work.

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  bholstein03/17/08 Report as spam
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  Foreigners work harder?

  This is an outrage. Americans work just as hard, if not harder, than anyone else in the world. How can anyone get away making such sweeping generalized statements? Very truly yours, Bill Holstein

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  ajaynagre03/17/08 Report as spam
  3

  Do foreigners work harder?

  Yes; they have to. They come with very little except their education, skills and determination. In a foreign land, like it or not, they face discrimination at every level and the only reason any American employer would give them a job, and that includes Microsoft, is because they are substantially better, either cost wise or quality wise, than a native American.
  It is not about whether Americans are hard working. Of course they are, which is why American productivity is high. This in turn is the magnet for immigrants who realize that they can be more productive in the US than in their home countries and therefore decide to the US.

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  jfranklinsr03/14/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Why Bill Gates Is Wrong on H-1B Visas

  I agree with you. It's as plain and simple as you have said. This is the underlying trouble with things. Everybody want to make a ton of money but they want everyone else to work for chicken feed.
  
  The current mess that the banking system and auto industry are in are prime examples of the I got mine forget about you way of thinking. Nafta and teaser rates. How long can the money flow one way before things collapse.
  
  Maybe the real truth is that the books can not be balanced and this system will never work. Just the facts history supports this statement.

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  abdulmajidashraf03/14/08 Report as spam
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  Disagree

  Economics will always win at the end of the day!

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  bholstein03/17/08 Report as spam
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  Economics

  The question is whether the United States, as a matter of national economic policy, ought to seek to maintain a high quality work force with a high proponderance of design and engineering jobs, or should engage in a great big race to the bottom. Yes, I take your point that economics are very powerful, but they ain't everything. Bill Holstein

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  apsinkus03/14/08 Report as spam
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  Disagree

  Bill IS right. Before moving to another metro for my family, I ran a sizable software development company. Those 45-year old American software engineers you are mentioning are full of you know what. They claim they would take the job, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE THE SKILLS!!! Also, there level of entitlement is disgusting!
  Nobody gives a hoot anymore about your Cobol, Perl, or other dead language you know. Most of them were too lazy to go and learn Java or .Net. Younger American citizens got spooked by the last bubble and chose not to get degrees in technology. So guess what, I had to import to fill the need. And I wish I could get them for 55K. Also, don't forget that an average legal bill to get someone as an H1B is easily $10K.
  H1B is the better alternative to off-shoring. At least these guys and gals pay their taxes here, buy products and services, and they BUY real estate instead of squandering money on cars and other junk.
  
  And yes, the vast majority of my company were US citizens, but you could them an exception. Why? They picked up every emerging language, they appreciated profit sharing and performance metrics, and they had very good heads on their shoulders. Unfortunately we probably hired all of them that existed.

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  Rich Petro03/14/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Why Bill Gates Is Wrong on H-1B Visas

  My experience in recruiting visa canaidates whas pure supply and demand. We did not have a different pay scale, and tended hire a range of experienced peopl ewhich is where they were differentiated in pay. All were hired with the same health and welfare benefits as the rest of our recruits.

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  bholstein03/17/08 Report as spam
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  English language

  Obviously, you don't care if people can spell the words in our language!

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  whitst03/15/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Why Bill Gates Is Wrong on H-1B Visas

  As a software programmer with 30+ years of experience AND SKILLS WITH CURRENT TECHNOLOGY I have to agree with the author. I believe the only reason for visas in my field is to not pay someone like myself the reasonable wages for which I am qualified.

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  ajaynagre03/16/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Why Bill Gates Is Wrong on H-1B Visas

  Disagree
  What is more preferable? More H-1B visas so that American companies can hire more Indians, Chinese, Koreans etc. who then come to the US, pay taxes, spend in the US & add to the overall prosperity of the US economy; or, for whatever reason, quality or cheap resources, the US companies decide to relocate to - India, China....
  We live in a globalized world. The US cannot give lectures to the world about how opening up the economy is a good thing. Globalization is double - edged, it cut both ways.

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  bholstein03/17/08 Report as spam
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  H-1Bs better than offshoring

  Okay, I take this point that a couple of you have made. In relative terms, it's better to have an H-1B visa holder working in the United States than it is to have the job go offshore entirely. But the best of all possible worlds, and the alternative that is best for the quality and sustainability of the U.S. economy, is to have as many Americans as possible in these jobs. I realize all the jobs can't be held by Americans and that it's healthy to have competition. So I continue to think our policy should be to encourage companies to consider hiring Americans. We cannot mandate that or control it. But we can create incentives and disincentives. BH

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  grouper@...03/18/08 Report as spam
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  I disagree as well

  I disagree with the notion that companies simply choose H-1B candidates because they can pay them lower wages. Do you know how hard it is to process ANY kind of application through the USCIS? It is the most arduous, frustrating process on earth. I love how US citizens have no clue about the screwed up immigration system they have in place and just assume it's some walk in the park for foreigners to show up here and take all the high paying jobs. It costs a ton of money for application fees, legal fees, etc. With all the regulatory hassles, it's simply not that easy. I'm a foreigner living in the US, working in technology and I was hard pressed to find an employer that would actually sponsor an H-1B visa in a major city.
  
  The reason why i'm here is because I like the country and I felt it is the best place for me to be doing what I love to do. I pay taxes like every other american and i'm not on any federal subsidity programs. So why am I hated so much by 50 year old out of work engineers when I was simply hired because I was the best candidate that walked through the doors? I'm providing returns for the company and being compensated like my american counterparts.

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  shiraz_raza_khan@...05/08/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Why Bill Gates Is Wrong on H-1B Visas

  Well I believe that it is a relevant issue that the govt has to think about very seriously. I totally agree with the author that the main reason for bringing in foreigners is simply because they are cheap as foreigners get the opportunity of staying back in the US; skill comes as the secondary issue, as if they are not well equipped, they can take up crash courses etc.
  
  I would say to my friend who disagrees, just because you couldn???t get a good job in your own country, you came to US. If you would've got a good job back there, wouldn???t you stay back in your own country??? Because in US you get tons of opportunities, therefore it is everyone's fav. place to be. However, you should think about the consequence of such shift of foreign workers on US economy and for local Americans. They lose thousands of jobs because foreigners agree to work in cheaper salary.
  
  In a sense this is a vicious circle, a brutal blame game, but in short it is affecting Americans, especially those who are in their late 40???s and 50???s.