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Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
"Only solutions to that would be start stapling Green cards for STEM graduates from TOP US universities and allowing them freedom you all talk about." Removing indentured servitude would be a big improvement because it would stop handcuffing employees for six+ years. Stapling a green card to every doctorate and STEM degree just exacerbates the problem though. Dr. Matloff's H1B page has some really good reasons why it would be harmful. "I was making one and only one point in my all post, that it is wrong to blame QCOM and for that matter any technology company without knowing all facts. As i mentioned that H1B system has loopholes and country needs political will to close those. QCOM for any reason is not one who is exploiting those. " Here you go again telling people that they don't know the facts. But instead it's clear that you need to read up on what is happening in your adoptive country. It's called "insourcing", the idea is that there are so many H1B Visas available that some companies that want to protect their IP while also reducing cost can import labor rather than outsource. I read a really good article about it in IndiaTimes and I'll see if I can dig up a link. Insourcing is something that bugs many in India because they would prefer to have the jobs moved there. Incidentally, most of the best reporting on H1B issues happens in the India media because the American media is so focused on Brangelina, octo-mom and the rest... The fact is that Qualcomm and other large tech companies that either outsource or insource are the problem because in the end all engineers pay a price. The job market is simple supply and demand economics. Reducing massive numbers of jobs via outsourcing while also bringing in 276,000 people a year on H1Bs tilts the job market firmly towards corporations. The net result is to provide a strong discouragement of America's best and brightest to enter STEM fields. It's also interesting to point out that many Green Card friends of mine that have been in this country for awhile have seen the impacts and are worried that it's going to get worse and many of them are not encouraging their kids to get into STEM fields, but instead healthcare and other fields.— March 13, 2011 11:29 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Re: "I don't expect corporations to look out for anything other than the bottom line and my expectations are set accordingly." A quick run through the #'s suggests that you are probably around 30 years old. Fast forward your life 10 years when you are married (if not already), with children to put through college. Then consider that in only the next few years another .5M IT jobs are slated for outsourcing. Then consider that several million new college grads will be entering the workforce even while another million or so people on new H1Bs will be competing for these smaller number of jobs. Then again, the corporate lobby that you seem disinterested in will probably have the H1B cap removed, so these numbers will be on the low side. Now consider that in order for your kids to get ahead they will need a masters degree that will cost well over $300K. But you'll have to do that while funding your own retirement, because there is no reason for corporations to continue to extend generous retirement benefits. Not only that but the late 60s retirement age for you falls decades after you'll be able to stay gainfully employed as an engineer. In 10+ years, you will probably look back at your job at Qualcomm as "the good old days" when you made decent money and only had to work 60-70 hrs a week. It might be the case though that as Qualcomm's patent portfolio runs out, that due to cost cutting, you'll be spun off or cast aside as they did the people in their two largest divisions 10 years ago. Who knows, perhaps you will be laid off and replaced by an H-1B as have many engineers at other companies. Your job might even be outsourced at which point you might have to suffer the indignity of being forced to train your H1B replacement in order to collect an extra months severance (this was the case with my neighbor a few years ago). If you try changing careers, you'll probably find that the road in these other fields are just as rocky. The best and the brightest Americans that fled or avoided the STEM field have taken the plum jobs in health care, finance and other areas and you're finding that the H-1B avalanche has extended to these other fields as well. Grim, eh? But you don't really need to look 10 years in the future to really question what is going on. Consider this - In the wired interview, Paul Jacobs said that 60% of his workforce is foreigners and he still wanted to double the amount of H1Bs that he wanted to hire. If he had his way previously, do you really think you would have been one of the few hired out of UCSD and do you think you would be a Qualcomm employee now? It's a shame that you don't seem to see what's going on and unfortunately this apathy is exactly what's wrong with this country and why things are going to get worse before they get better...— March 12, 2011 11:22 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Stud is actually a pretty common term to denote someone who is really good at what they do, but in a non-sexual way. See the first definition here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=st…— March 12, 2011 9:22 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
"It seems like sour grapes effort persons who envy Qualcomm." "Sour grapes"? Of course! Every STEM worker, whether American citizen or Green Card holder should be outraged that while millions of engineering/IT jobs have been outsourced, that there has simultaneously been a flood of skilled immigration designed to depress wages. As bad as it is now, it's only going to get worse because of the Wall Street/GOP push to remove the H-1B quota completely and institute a, "demand based Visa" system. But "Envy of Qualcomm?", umn sorry but no. "Most of Qualcomm Engineers have masters degree when they join Qualcomm. I read someone arguing otherwise. Give me your facts if you think otherwise". That was me, unfortunately it seems as though you completely missed my point that I was referring to H-1Bs that are being actively recruited and brought to San Diego. "Some one argued Apple applies for less H1B please go and check the stats for last year and look for this year.". Done. Apple is a much larger company than Qcom with a market cap of $324B vs Qualcomm's $88B and it employs about 3x as many people (46,600 vs 12,500), this according to Yahoo finance. You would think that all other things being equal that they would also be a larger consumer of H-1Bs. So far in 2011 Qcom has petitioned for 472 H-1Bs (ranked 8th), vs Apples 175 (ranked 45th). From 2000-20010 Qcom ranks 17th with 6224 vs Apple at rank 123 with 1930. This is all public information posted on myvisajobs.com It's interesting that 2010 Visa numbers do not seem to be available on myvisajobs.com, but the numbers for every other year are available and in all of those years that I checked, Qualcomm ranked heads and shoulders above Apple with respect to Visa petitions. If in fact 2010 was the only year that Apple surpassed Qualcomm in Visa petitions then this would appear to show a deliberate attempt on your part to cloud the facts. Incidentally, I don't condone Apple's hiring of the 1,930 H-1Bs that they have over the past 10 years, but it's a lot easier to tolerate 1,930 H-1B petitions relative to a total staff of 46,600 (Apple) than it is the shocking 6,220 H-1B petitions relative to a total staff of only 12,500 (Qualcomm). These numbers are outrageous and why everyone who works in a STEM field, including Green Card holders and newly minted H-1Bs should be worried about their future. "Another thing apple does is get the employees from established firm like qualcomm because they are not research but consumer facing company and for them time to market is important and that means experience candidate rather than someone fresh out of school with potential." Would you really have us believe this? "I respect all of you but most of you needs to get your facts straighten out!!!" I respect you too, but I think that you should take your own advice to heart...— March 12, 2011 6:04 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Unfortunately it's a little reported fact that there are "grey market" companies that provide many illegal services to those on Visas. I know this first hand as one of my Indian friends (Green Card holder) told me about someone that he knew that paid a bunch of money to one of these companies so that she could come to this country and land a marketing job that paid $70k/yr. She had no experience in this field and this company gave her a doctored resume and coached her on what to say to interview questions. When he told me this story he said, "America is such a great country!". I suppose to some it is impressive that in the US someone could come in and in 6 months land a $70k/yr job with no experience, but it does show how broken the system is and unless corrected will harm us all. In another instance, an unstable engineer that I worked with who was on an H-1B was terminated after threatening the life of the CEO. A police report was filed and we had armed guards stationed in the building for months after-wards. According to H-1B policy he was supposed to have left the country, but he paid money to another company so that it looked like he was employed. After about 9 months of looking he landed a job in the Bay Area working for Broadcom. Some of these shenanigans are starting to become public though. The "Sham U" in Pleasanton is a case in point. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_re_us/us_univers…— March 12, 2011 12:07 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Let me clarify that my points are directed at the H-1B system and not foreign nationals. Once a person gets a Green Card, I don't think that they are treated any better or worse (educationally or otherwise) than any other American, and unfortunately they have to contend with the same wage pressures that American born engineers must contend with. I do think however, that there is a natural tendency to hire like-minded people with similar backgrounds, culture and most importantly, a set circle of friends and previous co-workers. In companies such as Qualcomm's, whose staff comes predominantly from H-1Bs and foreigners (according to Jacobs), this means a natural preference to hire out of this same group and I do believe that this goes on at Qualcomm. I would like to think that this isn't a deliberate bias, but it is a bias nonetheless and an example where the system is broken. I do believe that the H-1Bs that are directly imported here have an easier time as far as education, at least initially. In fact H-1B stats show that most have only a bachelor's degree. Companies knowingly look to hire less expensive workers that are younger and also less educated to fit these less demanding roles. The Qualcomm/mindlance job ads that I posted are perfect examples of this. If they latter better themselves by getting a masters degree from a US University, it doesn't change the fact that the initial hurdle was easier. The question of educational level of candidates is an interesting issue that bears further discussion. It's a known fact that in recent years tech companies have tightened their hiring requirements. In many ways, having a masters degree is the new bachelors degree. This is a clear indication of a labor surplus and not a shortage. If you take a step back and look at what is happening, it's really a game of musical chairs. More and more jobs are being outsourced (chairs going away), while more people are searching for a smaller number of chairs. If everyone has a masters degree from a ranked University, how do they continue to stand out? Where does it stop? Corporations don't really care about this, but the harm to our society can't be denied. Incidentally I find it ironic that these same forces that have caused musical chairs/romper room in the US, have actually caused the opposite situation to happen in India. There are so many job openings in India, that in some cases people are hired without even interviewing. They are told to just show up with "some" degree from "some" University. This is a true story that was told to me by one of the "brain drain" people that Paul Jacobs was worried about. He was a former Qualcomm engineer who left the company, moved back to India and is managing a large engineering group in Bangalore.In many ways the opportunities that existed for people to better themselves in this country has shifted and are going overseas.— March 11, 2011 4:36 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Very true. Everyone should look at the list of top corporate consumers of H-1Bs as it is an eye-opener. Companies that you wouldn't think of such as Pharmacy chains Rite-Aid and CVS are large consumers of H-1Bs. During the meltdown in 2008, Wall Street companies laid people off by the tens of thousands while simultaneously lobbying the government for tens of thousands of H-1B replacement workers. This is a perfect example where it's not about the best and the brightest, but about corporate profits. Alan Greenspan was one of the most outspoken proponents of the H-1B program because in his perspective it was important to depress the wages of, "the privileged elite". His definition of the privileged elite isn't the overpaid Wall Streeters, but shockingly skilled workers in the U.S. This interview with Greenspan is just one example (start at 3:40 into the clip): ( .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqx88MyUSck. ) It's interesting to point out that Greenspan was also the architect of the cheap lending that led to the housing bust. Heavily leveraging Americans into homes and then working proactively to reduce their standard of living makes no sense whatsoever and is an example of the failed policies that generated the economic collapse of 2008.— March 11, 2011 11:07 a.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Actually the Pakistani national who tried to blow up a car in Times Square that was packed with explosives came to the US and worked on a H-1B Visa. Not to portray the vast majority of hard working immigrants who work in this country on a H-1B as terrorists, but you have a good point that the H-1B Visa program can be easily exploited by "bad guys" (of the non CEO variety).— March 10, 2011 4:54 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
One other point to pellis. I checked the Glassdoor.com link that you supplied and there is a huge discrepancy in salaries reported. For example according to glassdoor, software engineers at Qualcomm are making anywhere from $64K to $95K in salary. For senior SW engineers the range is $78K to $109K. The website doesn't specify where people fall with an H-1B, but my bet is that it's on the low end. In fact this might explain why there is such a large range. Also, as I previously pointed out, Qualcomm cycles in many H-1Bs through third party Indian-based job shop companies like mindlance. H-1B salaries are a matter of public record. So I looked into the average salary that mindlance pays in San Diego and it's a paltry $64K/yr. That's $64K/yr across all engineering categories and experience levels...— March 10, 2011 2:50 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
This is exactly the heart of the issue isn't it? Outsourcing and "In-Sourcing" via the H-1B and other Visas are only one of many facets of the same problem. We have the situation where the corporate elites, very few by numbers are exerting considerable pressure to further their agenda and line their pocket books at the expense of the country as a whole. Over the past 10 years all segments from across the US income range have seen a reduction in living standards except for the top 2% who have seen their earnings explode. In my lifetime, I've never seen this level of corporate exploitation. People were always using their influence to be sure, but the extent that it is happening now is shocking to say the least. These CEOs and companies have found that globalism provides the tools that they need to enrich themselves, but unfortunately these tools are coming at the expense of this country. The GDP of the US is relatively flat after declining during the great recession, a recession that was directly caused by these same policies. It doesn't have to be this way however. Other countries such as Germany continue to be export powerhouses and they do this by employing their own citizens while paying relatively high wages. As you've pointed out, American-style capitalism is the problem, because labor and policies that favor the nation as a whole are not part of the equation. Unfortunately I don't see it changing anytime soon because Americans as a whole seem unable to see through the corporate spin and in fact many are supporting the same policies that are directly harming them.— March 10, 2011 12:36 p.m.