On Mon, 11 Feb 2013, David Nelsen wrote:

> Maybe it is not the skill level that is hard to recruit but rather the 
> work ethic and retention.  No facts to back ths up.  Just a hunch.  I 
> agree with Sue- If a business is hiring H1B's for entry level work and 
> passing up local work force candidates then I have issue with this.  I 
> do think part of the equation as well is maybe larger corporations do 
> not want to put the time, energy, and resources in quality recruitment, 
> professional development and mentoring.  They have a position to fill 
> and they need a warm body with skills.  If so I think this is too bad. 
> I admire organizations that invest in workforce development.


For me the issue is about pay.  Normally, salary is decided by a free 
market with skilled people choosing higher-paying professions and 
companies then having to pay well to get such highly-skilled workers.  Of 
course, no one wants to pay anyone for anything -- everyone always wants 
to pay less and keep more profit for himself.  There's nothing wrong with 
that, of course.  So people pay only what they have to pay to get the good 
workers and get the job done.  I am arguing that companies want to hire 
H-1B workers because they don't want to pay the going rate to get a good 
US worker.

Someone asked why we aren't complaining about Canadians taking our jobs. 
We seem only to complain about non-English-speaking, non-white people. 
Is that racism?  First, are Canadians taking our jobs?  Maybe they are, 
but I doubt it and I haven't heard that they are doing so.  The reason is 
probably that the jobs for which companies want to hire H-1B workers are 
paying a sub-standard wage that can't compete with Canadian wages. 
Second, the fact that many/most H-1B workers are coming from poorer 
countries should suggest that the problem is not lack of workers in the 
US, it is really about paying less.  People from countries with a lot of 
poverty can be hired for lower wages in the US.  Third, I think I hear 
more complaints about Mexican workers than any others, but you won't be 
seeing many Mexican workers on H-1B visas -- they mostly are H-2A, H-2B or 
undocumented.  (H-1B is for "Persons in Specialty Occupation which 
requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly 
specialized knowledge requiring completion of a specific course of higher 
education.")

I'm all for immigration (like I said, my wife immigrated from South 
America on H-1B and became a US citizen), but I'm opposed to manipulations 
of the labor market that are designed to make money for corporations and 
the rich at the expense of our middle class.

Remember how supply and demand work.  More workers come in, there's more 
supply to meet the demand and the price of labor falls.  The paychecks of 
workers then drop -- not just for H-1B workers, but for all workers with 
the skills for that set of jobs.

I should add that I have hired an H-1B worker, he did a great job and is a 
friend.  I have tried to help him get permanent residency.  The situation 
was one where I was not allowed to pay more than a certain amount for a 
worker and he was the only person who applied who knew how to do the work. 
That also happened before I figured out more about the big picture of 
supply/demand, H-1B visas and how big business manipulates government.

Mike