
Who said what inside the Trump tech meeting - dserban
http://www.recode.net/2016/12/15/13976806/immigration-maternity-leave-grid-software-president-trump-tech-meeting
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trendia
> Immigration and how the government can help tech with things like H-1B visas
> to keep and bring in more talent. Nadella pointed out that much of the
> company’s spending on research and development was in the U.S., even if 50
> percent of the sales were elsewhere, so that immigration would benefit those
> here.

If the H1B program remains, they need to give foreign workers the ability to
switch firms while in the US. Current policy forces them to remain with their
current firm, which reduces their bargaining power and puts them at risk of
being overworked and exploited. Further, it reduces competition between firms,
lowering wages. (e.g. it is difficult for a H1B worker to get another job with
a pay raise, so they are stuck with whatever salary they have.)

A study by U Notre Dame (which I cannot find on mobile) showed that H1B visas
did _not_ increase innovation measured by patent grants, but did 1) increase
company profits, and 2) decrease all salaries at the firm, citizen and non-
citizen.

This suggests the true incentive of H1B visas is to increase profits by
lowering wages, not to find workers that firms are unable to find as citizens.

~~~
user5994461
They should start by solving the Indian Consultancy H1B problem.

If you look at the H1B statistics, you'll see that all the top employers are
indian consulting firms. They consume a huge percentage of the very limited
H1B visa pool, only to take cheap H1B workers from abroad.

The tech companies are far behind.

[http://h1bdata.info/topcompanies.php](http://h1bdata.info/topcompanies.php)

~~~
mixedCase
At the risk of being crucified here, Trump did say he plans to make H1Bs more
expensive for companies; in hopes that the program starts being used for
extraordinary talent (as meant to) rathan than cheap talent. If he keeps his
promise, it's most likely to end that problem.

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yread
> Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook,
> Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Cisco CEO Chuck
> Robbins, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and Oracle CEO
> Safra Catz.

3 women out of 9 people that's not too bad for tech (or CEOs)!

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sabujp
Way to go Larry, direct DC power for everyone!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-
voltage_direct_current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-
voltage_direct_current)

~~~
hencq
Yeah, too bad that people were apparently confused about it. I think an HVDC
grid will be key as renewables take up a larger share of electricity supply.
It might not be windy or sunny here, but it probably is somewhere else.

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wyldfire
> Also brought up ... the repatriation of tech company profits

...and‽ We want to know not just the agenda but what took place. Even if the
administration was noncommittal/unresponsive, stating that would make me feel
better. Or if you couldn't get anyone to go on record, maybe at least let us
know that you asked and no one offered comment.

> Musk also ... brought up ... climate change, in other meetings at Trump
> Tower.

...and what did Trump say‽ Jeez, you did the drum roll and left me totally
hanging. Seems like a controversial topic for sure and no mention of whether
Trump dismissed this or debated it or just sat quietly.

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anjc
Trump campaigned on a stance of abolishing the H1B scam - he even had
displaced workers giving speeches on stage about it - so I don't know how
Nadella can turn around and say "we need to increase H1B issuance".

~~~
paulmd
Nadella didn't campaign on it, and it benefits tech companies to have a ready
supply of cheap workers who can be kicked out of the country if they quit.

So I imagine it was pretty easy for him to say that.

~~~
anjc
Oh well yeah, I understand that he would say it because it's in his interest.
I just think it's odd that he doesn't seem to be aware of Trump's (ostensible)
position.

~~~
wyldfire
Odder still is Trump's response:

> Surprisingly to the group, Trump apparently responded favorably, “Let’s fix
> that,” he said, without a specific promise, and then asked, “What can I do
> to make it better?”

It's almost as if he doesn't have ideals and is very easily influenced by
others who can offer him money and/or power.

~~~
jdlshore
Or his "let's fix that" was just a way of keeping the conversation going and
getting more information. It sounds like that's what this meeting was--a
chance for the attendees to voice their perspective on what's important.

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bflesch
.

~~~
devopsproject
The media tells us what to think about. The billionaires want to control media
so they can sway public opinion and get what they want.

1\. The media creates an "issue"

2\. The "issue" riles people up

3\. Calls are made to congress critters

4\. Facebook posts are posted

5\. Twitter hash tags are create

6\. Billionaire suddenly has a plan to correct\fix\control issue

