If the H1Bs are bid up by the Fortune 500 companies, then the US citizens will be cheaper in comparison. It will ensure that the BEST from around the world are given a chance in the US, not entry level IT workers.
As for the indentured slave mentality, I’ve seen that today, even in companies where it’s against policy for the H1B to work more than 40 hours a week.
As a US Citizen, I can’t imagine a better system. Our underprivileged citizens will be provided a subsidized education and when they graduate, they will be cheaper to employ than the H1Bs.
From earlier in the thread, someone pointed out that graduates from elite colleges are also ultimately competing for H1B slots against Infosys type body shop IT people. There’s no reason American citizens can’t perform the body shop type IT work.
What’s worse is that when the recession hits, the H1B will still be employed while US citizens will be looking for jobs. The H1B system doesn’t get rid of H1Bs fast enough when the economy tanks. Maybe the bid price should include a multiple that is reindexed each year based upon the US Citizen unemployment in that field. Example - Initial bid is $50k/year. The H1B is hired, and for two years, the employer pays $50k, until in the third year, when the recession hit, and software developer unemployment rises to 8%, then the tax increases to 75k, causing the employer to get rid of their H1B and to hire a US citizen.
No company will hire a person, even a Nobel laureate if they have to pay 50k in taxes for that person. Do you understand global mobility? That person will simply be hired in Canada or Europe. Then there will be a ripple effect as there will be no labor market for immigrants, naturally there won’t be a higher education market for international students, and the US won’t have a thriving labor market. Which means companies have to expand in countries with an accessible labor market
A company would pay $50k in a heartbeat for a Nobel laureate. Companies are already regularly paying $75k for an H1B with a questionable degree straight from India. Currently, does the H1B get all $75k? Not if hired through a body shop like Infosys/TCS. You can think of those body shops as a tax. Why would companies care if the tax is going to the US Government or Infosys/TCS?
$50k is just an example. This tax would be bid on. If a software engineer is really needed, then their employee could bid a large amount, say $50K, and likely be certain to obtain an H1B. If another engineer’s skill is less in demand, maybe the company bids $5k.
Is a tax going to shift the mobility? How much are engineers making in India? (US salary - Indians Salary) = Tax opportunity. Or (US Salary - Canadian Salary) = Tax opportunity. In either of those cases, that Tax opportunity is quite large.
By having a bidding process for the H1B, there’s a quantifiable signal for US Citizens to see and for politicians to act upon. It’s no longer just Zuckerberg and Satya endlessly pushing for greater H1B quotas, as the politicians would be trying to maximize tax revenue to pay for their “free” college.
Additionally, the US will no longer be getting new engineers with questionable skills to tackle a SQL migration project, we will he getting all the MIT graduates who are currently leaving for Canada and Europe. We will be getting all the graduates from all the elite schools. And those software quality jobs currently being filled by the least skilled new engineers? Within 4 years, there will be a flood of domestic STEM graduates to fill those jobs.
As for the indentured slave mentality, I’ve seen that today, even in companies where it’s against policy for the H1B to work more than 40 hours a week.
As a US Citizen, I can’t imagine a better system. Our underprivileged citizens will be provided a subsidized education and when they graduate, they will be cheaper to employ than the H1Bs.