5 Comments

• I don't quite agree with the article's opinion on H1B workers.
  
  
  
  As a matter of fact, most employers don't employ, or at least don't prefer, H1B people. If an H1B person goes to an interview with an equivalently skilled American, the employer will almost definitelty take the American since the employer won't have to mess with the extra paperwork and fee.
  
  
  
  If one think he or she became unemployed because of H1Bs, it's probably because he or she is not skilled enough to compete.
  
  
  
  Afterthought: Maybe the most secured software jobs are those in the supporting roles of non-tech industries (Healthcare, financial, etc.).
  

• Thats an interesting take. It is true that the extra paperwork is a hassle. Here is what my employer does.
  
  
  
  We contract the H1B people through a contracting company that specializes in this.
  
  
  
  The funny thing is that we could hire americans to do the work if there were any available web programmers out there as the pay is competitive per the H1B provision.
  

• I don't know about Steve but all H1-Bs I know make $100K+, the ones in Silicon Valley make $150K+ (these are current salaries, they were all making lot more during the .com era). Majority are low-level coders. I can't imagine anybody taking a programming job for $25K.
  

• Jerry: WHAT companies are those? I've NEVER heard of an H1B from India (with <5 years experience as a coder or programmer) earning 6-digit salaries! (Not that it isn't possible, just not in the companies for which I've worked...or any of my friends' companies...)
  
  
  
  I can imagine non-Indian H1Bs (from say, Belgium, France, or Germany) commanding and getting those kind of salaries, but find it hard to believe low-level coders or programmers from India can wangle that out of a company. It's takes a pretty experienced and high-skilled developer (not coder or programmer) to command 6-digit salaries...
  
  
  
  Most of what me and my friends have experienced is wholesale replacement of American programmers with >15-20 years experience (and getting paid >$100K) by 2, 3, or sometimes 4 recent college grads from India who are willing to work for $30-60K. Managers seem to find absolutely nothing wrong with this...(and it usually screws up their plans due to the loss of domain expertise, let alone loss of software development expertise...)
  
  
  
  Maybe we should set up a web-site enumerating the "low-ballers" (to stay away from them), and the "high-ballers" (to advertise their willingness to pay honest wages)... Huummm... (Unfortunately, it would probably attract lawsuits!)
  

• I'll try to find out how much Indian H1-Bs are making. I only know people from Eastern Europe (working in the US on H1-Bs), and believe me, none of them work for low wages. They can do that at home where the cost of living is a lot less than in the states.