Everybody seems to be discussing the pros and cons of H1-B and it's various misuses etc. It's very clear to anybody who's gone through the process (as I have, both as an employee and as an employer) that this is an extremely flawed process based on a mid-20th century model of industrial work in huge factories.
But PG's essays is not about necessarily maintaining or expanding the existing flawed process itself. It's about the end goal of having a rational legal process to keep the tech ecosystem healthy. Some of the concrete ways I can think of that makes the situation better:
1) Right away, grant all tech degree holders from say, the worlds' top 200 universities immediate medium term visas equivalent to current OPT (Optional Practical Training periods which are short term). The current version of OPT allows about 18 months of work permit for jobs somewhat related to their degrees. An alternate, more politically palatable version of this might only include US universities and/or only post-graduate degrees. A very basic version of this idea can simply extend the term of the current OPT to say, 5 years.
2) Dissociate the granting of green cards to skilled employees from a particular employer. This is a major reason H1-B visa holders feel trapped with one employer (otherwise the mobility between jobs is pretty easy for H1-B holders). Let the skilled immigrant directly apply for permanent residency based on employable skills supported by, say, education, employment, compensation history so far in their careers. Make sure equity compensation is given weight here (to treat the startup ecosystem fairly).
3) Remove the per-country quotas on green cards. India and China having the same quota as say, to pick a random small country - Latvia, is ridiculous and quite possibly mirrors the old style racist immigration policies from the previous centuries.
(1) and (2) will pretty much mitigate most of the issues foreign engineers face when participating the startup ecosystem. All three changes together will take away any motivation/power employers have over skilled employees in today's H1-B -> green card pathway based system. This should also assuage any valid wage suppression issues raised by some people on this forum.
But PG's essays is not about necessarily maintaining or expanding the existing flawed process itself. It's about the end goal of having a rational legal process to keep the tech ecosystem healthy. Some of the concrete ways I can think of that makes the situation better:
1) Right away, grant all tech degree holders from say, the worlds' top 200 universities immediate medium term visas equivalent to current OPT (Optional Practical Training periods which are short term). The current version of OPT allows about 18 months of work permit for jobs somewhat related to their degrees. An alternate, more politically palatable version of this might only include US universities and/or only post-graduate degrees. A very basic version of this idea can simply extend the term of the current OPT to say, 5 years.
2) Dissociate the granting of green cards to skilled employees from a particular employer. This is a major reason H1-B visa holders feel trapped with one employer (otherwise the mobility between jobs is pretty easy for H1-B holders). Let the skilled immigrant directly apply for permanent residency based on employable skills supported by, say, education, employment, compensation history so far in their careers. Make sure equity compensation is given weight here (to treat the startup ecosystem fairly).
3) Remove the per-country quotas on green cards. India and China having the same quota as say, to pick a random small country - Latvia, is ridiculous and quite possibly mirrors the old style racist immigration policies from the previous centuries.
(1) and (2) will pretty much mitigate most of the issues foreign engineers face when participating the startup ecosystem. All three changes together will take away any motivation/power employers have over skilled employees in today's H1-B -> green card pathway based system. This should also assuage any valid wage suppression issues raised by some people on this forum.