• cybervseas@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      I don’t have the data, but in HCOL areas a six digit salary doesn’t go that far. And the real point is how much downward pressure does it put on compensation for Americans who do have job mobility? How does the pay between these two population compare and change over time?

      The H1B system makes it functionally impossible to change jobs, and employers can take advantage of that by depressing wages, worsening working conditions, and laying off other staff. Employers hold all the power in that relationship.

      • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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        6 days ago

        Six digits is “only” average in San Francisco, and well above average almost everywhere else. I’d say that being the average resident of an extremely expensive place to live in the USA is nowhere near “low-wage indentured servant”.

        Also, H1B holders can change jobs, as long as the new job gets them a new H1B. That makes it harder for them to change jobs than it is for Americans, but many tech companies are willing to get that visa for someone talented.

        Edit: They also always have the option of leaving the USA and going back to their home country. They don’t gain anything from Sanders’ proposal - they just lose the option of coming to the USA in the first place, which is an option they really want to have. What Musk is proposing is clearly better for them, so Sanders shouldn’t wrap his opposition in false claims of looking out for the poor foreigners who might get those awful American jobs unless he stops them.

        • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          I know multiple people here on H1B visas, and guess what, I left the job I was in over horrible working condition, and 6 years later, they are all still there bcz they can’t get another job willing to sponsor their visa.

          • iopq@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            My dad came to America on this visa and then got a green card. Now our whole family are citizens. If he wasn’t able to do that, I’d be sitting in a bunker somewhere in Eastern Ukraine after getting drafted

          • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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            6 days ago

            I know multiple people here on H1B visas too. They do have difficulties that Americans do not, but they would still much rather be in the USA than go back to their home countries. How would taking away that option to be in the USA (which they really want) help these people?

            • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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              6 days ago

              Who said anything about taking it away? They point is that the comment about it being borderline indentured servitude is accurate.

              • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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                6 days ago

                If Sanders gets his way and denies H1B visas to people who would have gotten them under Musk’s proposal, then Sanders is taking away the option of coming to the USA that those people would have had. That’s (1) an option no one is forcing them to take, (2) an option that they really want, and (3) an option that they can change their mind about at any time. An indentured servant is someone who doesn’t have the option of leaving. You can’t make someone indentured by giving them more options.

                • TimmyDeanSausage @lemmy.world
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                  6 days ago

                  Surely you would support expanding the H1B so that it’s easier for H1B workers to change jobs then, right? Let them come, but also nuetralize any options for corporations to abuse the H1B system. Sounds like a reasonable compromise to me.

                  • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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                    6 days ago

                    Yes, I would support that. I think that simply making H1B visas easier to get will reduce the extent of the problem (since getting a new H1B at a new job would be easier too) but I would also support additional measures specifically to address it.

    • takeda@lemm.ee
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      6 days ago

      The SWE H1B salaries are drastically under what is the market price.

      And that doesn’t even account for them continuously working overtime without overtime pay.

    • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Imagine what it would be like without the flood of labor from abroad. Those jobs could pay $1 million/year and be filled by Americans.

      Now imagine if they uncap H1-Bs, the market will totally flood and wages will easily drop to five-digits.

    • RagingRobot@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Not true and even if it were that’s not a whole lot of money in large cities where it would be happening