Indian_H1B
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Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
If anyone is considering it, I would not recommend it. You have no idea how good you have it here with a compassionate unemployment insurance system and a host of other civic goodies. If I go back, I'll do fine because I have a few hundred loved ones and close friends. I will heavily rely on them until I can rehabilitate myself away from the logic of the US to the chaos of India. India is the kind of place that's absolutely charming to visit and absolutely challenging to live in unless you have a zillion social support structures.— March 13, 2011 7:23 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Assuming this is all a game of "quid pro quo" is naivete at its extreme. India's per capita income is some 1/40th of the US's. Comparing India and the US is apples to oranges. Am I proud of India's foreign policy? Absolutely not! But I am more NOT proud of a variety of other things such as abject poverty in my native land. Worrying about whether India has a visa program for Americans is trying to boil the ocean. We are focused on what's good for America and whether there is potential symbiosis in bringing in professionals from outside. In the context of this article, we are zooming in on San Diego as a specific geography of interest. Let's stay within the boundaries of that discussion. I don't believe I have to be a patriot to be a good man and a good professional. I love India for many things and love the US for many things. My objective to do as many challenging things as possible when I am young and save up to give back to the various societies that made me when I am old.— March 13, 2011 11:11 a.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Spot on, sir. If H-1Bs were not tethered to an employer, you would see more of them join start-ups. That would also ensure that H-1Bs were more of a factor in founding job-creating enterprises instead of working for large corporations. Mark Zuckerberg would likely have said "H-1 what?" when Facebook was 50 people strong. Now, at a few thousand employees, I suspect Facebook is quite familiar with the program.— March 13, 2011 11:01 a.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
When I say the immigration system is not phenomenal, America's overall good is the yardstick being used. Canada and the UK have moved toward a more objective way of measuring an immigrant's worth and they have eliminated any tethers of indentured servitude in the immigration process. The US on the other hand is quite a ways behind in this regard. As regards self-interest, I have found threatened American ITs display truckloads of it as compared to the H-1Bs. H-1Bs have absolutely no right to display a sense of entitlement by saying they deserve to be here. Some of that extends to the American IT guys who complain a lot. Many take the "divine right of the womb" (thanks, Warren Buffet) a little too seriously when they say: "America is for Americans." That kind of jingoism is passe.— March 13, 2011 10:55 a.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
I think the best professionals love what they do and money follows them because they do it well. My salary on my new job is higher because I moved to one of the coasts and had previously worked in the mid-west. I did check glassdoor and found that I am being paid about 5-10% higher than others in the same position; so nothing to roll your eyes about. That the H-1B is flawed is beyond question. But there is often a tendency to shoot the messenger. A lot of the people here hate all H-1Bs. The second kind of people I find in these H-1B bashing contests are people who are not in love with STEM. They are smart enough to have gotten degrees in them, but they don't have the passion for it. Some of my best colleagues over the years have indeed been American (born and raised) scientists and engineers. They were not imported like the rest of us. They are studs because they are relentlessly enthused by STEM. So while I spent considerable parts of my teenage years cramming for a uber-hard entrance exam to get into a school where success was predicated on my ability to regurgitate, these stud friends of mine were spending 16 hours a day either coding crack video games or performing wicked experiments in a high school lab knowing that MIT or Stanford would come calling when the time was right. I won't be surprised if I have to play catch-up for another 20 years to be as good as them. I can assure you that these studs are not spending time bashing H-1Bs.— March 12, 2011 5:25 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
As an H-1B, I completely agree that indentured servitude is a huge dynamic (or should I say 'static' given the inherent inertia?) of the H-1B program. That said, H-1Bs are hired by firms ranging from the best employers to the worst. The latter is dominated by what are called 'IT bodyshops'. As an Indian, it's quite shameful to admit, but a statistically significant number of these sweatshops are run by Indians (who may have greencards or naturalized as Americans but are absolutely Indian as concerns their identities) who employ Indians (less fortunate H-1B/OPT types). It is this group that America should completely weed out and nuke. I had the pleasure of going to some pretty darn good engineering schools, and I can tell you that Qualcomm hires H-1Bs with grad degrees from the higher ranked schools. All my H-1B friends there have been making 6 digits for a while now. Qualcomm is also quite nice with the greencard process (any employer that's "nice" about the greencard process is one that does not use the system to retain you for as long as possible by running your case through the slowest meat grinder). In contrast, I worked for another company that was a pretty good place to be, but was not "nice" about the greencard process. They ran my case through the slowest channel (notwithstanding a couple of graduate degrees that would have allowed me to get my greencard in 2-3 years). After 7 years of having my progress stunted by the fact that promoting me would put me in a position not matching the one in my greencard application from 2003, I just gave up and resigned. I now work at arguably the most innovative company in the US (I am in my early 30s and make 175+ here and was making 125+ at my old employer). I still am on an H-1B some 8 years after I started working following grad school. I don't think I was underpaid before and I don't think I am underpaid now. Due to the way the greencard process is structured, I may need to go and join at the back of line. Then again, with some luck, my profile may qualify me for a different category which would get me a greencard in a few months. My new employer is being very helpful to ensure the best outcome for me. If after all this, I am forced to leave the US since my greencard runs ashore due a very broken legal immigration system, I think I will be fine. I love the US more for the intellectual stimulation I enjoyed and the friends I made here than anything else. But a broken immigration system makes some fairly valuable people jump through hoops even as others (IT bodyshops, who else) run roughshod over the rules and get away with near murder. I'll just look for nice opportunities in India or a few other places that will likely have me (Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, all of Europe) depending on where I can effectively pursue my passion. My bottomline: The US is a phenomenal country with a not-so-phenomenal immigration system.— March 12, 2011 3:49 p.m.