

Microsoft needs immigrants, Facebook doesn't - daviday
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/3/how_much_immigrant_labor_does_your_company_use_

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puneetht
This article completely misses the point. I want to know how many of the
non-H1B workers at Microsoft used to be H1B's. And how about finding out
percentage of engineers at all these companies. And personally I am so sick of
hearing all these BS stories of H1B's stealing American jobs with low wages. I
used to be on H1B and I made (and still do) more that all my friends who are
American citizens or green card holders. I have green card now, and that hasnt
affected my pay in any way.

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ardit33
Ok, for those against H-1Bs, tell me how many good programmers you know that
don't have a job, or can't find one? My company is hiring, and they have hard
time filling slots. Even fresh undergrads are taking in multiple offers. I'd
like to see a H-1B reform, where there are more safeguard put in place against
fraud (body shop abuses), and more green cards available.

Some people dream that if H-1B supply is cut off, engineers will get paid as
much as lawyers and doctors, it is not going to happen. Once wages get to a
pain threshold, companies will outsource even more. Unlike a doctor or
engineer, you don't have to be at the location to build software. The
engineers in the USA will be left only for jobs that have to be done locally.
A good lawyer or doctor earn knowledge thru accumulated experience, and a 10
to 15 years of experiene. In Engineering, the learning experience curve is max
5 years. There is great chance, whatever you are doing now, that in 5 years it
will be obsolete, and you will be re-learning from the beginning.

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kirubakaran
H1Bs are not "immigrants". We are non-immigrant alien workers.

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tptacek
Uh, hello? Almost any one of Microsoft's mainstream product lines is bigger
than Facebook. Office vs. Facebook? Office. Windows vs. Facebook? Windows.
Xbox vs. Facebook? Xbox. MSN Search vs. Facebook? Probably MSN Search.

Congratulations are due to Facebook for managing to scale their one product,
pre-business-model, without H1-B's.

I'm not an advocate for H1-B visas (though we could have a spirited debate
about their merits vs. offshoring), but this is a pretty silly article.

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attack
You don't want foreigners coming to the country to work?

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tptacek
Sure I do. I just don't want special-interest employer exemptions from
immigration law that deliberately creates an artifically cheap supply of temp
workers.

The alternative to H1B is offshoring, which is clearly worse than immigration.

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attack
Same as I was thinking.

