Tens of Thousands Laid Off – Now What?

Amidst recent layoffs at tech giants such as Amazon, Meta, and Salesforce, US immigrants holding H1-B visas for specialized skills have been brutally hit. These visas, which are in high demand among large tech companies, allow sponsored immigrants to come to the US, but if a worker is laid off, they must find another company to support them within 60 days or leave the country. This is especially difficult when the companies that sponsor most H1-B visas are the same ones making layoffs and freezing hiring.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services data shows that Amazon and Meta, which together have announced at least 29,000 layoffs, each applied to sponsor more than 1,000 new H1B visas in the 2022 fiscal year. The current US immigration system, which has not evolved much since the last major immigration bill in 1986, has failed to keep up with the changing needs of the US economy, as the pandemic has demonstrated. This has resulted in workers, companies, and the US losing out on the potential benefits of a diverse, highlyskilled talent pool.

H1-B Visas Are Outdated

The H1-B visa provision of U.S. immigration law is a controversial issue that has been the subject of much debate and discussion. On the one hand, the H1-B visa program is seen as a way to attract highly skilled workers from other countries to fill critical gaps in the U.S. workforce, particularly in the tech industry. But on the other hand, there have been concerns raised about the use of the H1-B visa program by some companies to bring in low-wage foreign workers to replace higher-paid American workers or to use the program as a way to exploit workers from other countries by paying them low wages and providing poor working conditions.

Regardless of one’s position on the H1-B visa program, it is essential to address any instances of exploitation or abuse that may occur and to ensure that the program is being used in a way that is fair to both U.S. workers and foreign workers. This can be done through more vigorous enforcement of existing labor laws, greater transparency in the visa application process, and more robust protections for workers.

Overall, the H1-B visa program has the potential to bring benefits to the U.S. economy and workforce. Still, it is essential to ensure that it is not used to exploit workers or undermine the rights and wages of American workers.

Ways High-Tech Companies Have Been Misusing the H1-B Visa Program

There are several ways that high-tech companies may be misusing the H1-B visa program:

  1. Replacing American workers with lower-paid foreign workers: Some companies have been accused of using the H1-B visa program to bring in foreign workers to replace higher-paid American workers, thus lowering labor costs and potentially exploiting foreign workers in the process.
  2. Paying below-market wages: Some companies have been accused of paying H1-B visa holders significantly lower salaries than they would pay to equivalent American workers, violating U.S. labor laws.
  3. Failing to provide promised working conditions: Some companies have been accused of not providing H1-B visa holders with the working conditions, benefits, and pay pledged to in the visa application process, leading to exploitation and abuse of these workers.
  4. Improper application process: Some companies may engage in fraud or abuse in the visa application process, such as submitting false information or using the program to bring in workers for non-specialty occupations.
  5. Exploiting the visa system for financial gain: Some companies may use the H1-B visa program to profit from the exploitation of foreign workers, taking advantage of the program’s loopholes and lack of enforcement to profit at the expense of American workers.

Why Discriminate Against Americans?

Now you might be asking yourself, first of all, why would they discriminate against US workers in preference for a foreign worker? The great answer to that, number one, is that these workers only fall under some of the same rules and regulations as US workers. So you can mistreat them pretty severely. I’ve seen it done many times. That poor person who has been brought over from overseas to some potentially third-world country, most likely third-world country, is afraid to say anything because they don’t want to lose their job. We know of cases that have been reported online repeatedly, where half a dozen, even a dozen, people staying in a single apartment, working for some of these significant giants.  We’re talking about big companies that can pay good money for US workers and charge a lot.

I have ranted and raved about some of these consulting firms who have gone in and overbid some of the stuff. This one that I’m thinking of, there was a proposal out, an RFP, basically from a company that had been a client of mine for 20 years. They were looking for someone to run their Microsoft infrastructure, if you will. Mainly their email server.  They wanted this email server to be hosted by the company and maintained by the company.

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