Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 22:18:20 -0700 From: Norm Matloff To: Norm Matloff Subject: sadly, the press is missing a vital resource To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter Whenever I see businesses quoted as saying that they need H-1Bs because they just can't find qualified U.S. citizens and permanent residents (green card holders), the first thing I do is check the Dept. of Labor's H-1B database, to see just how much these businesses are paying their H-1Bs (http://archive.flcdatacenter.com/casesearch.asp). I wish the reporter had done so in this case. One of the businesses quoted here, AgreeYa, has a highly embarrassing record. It has hired H-1B programmers for as little as $36K a year! The median salary even for new graduates in this field is $50K, and of course experienced programmers can make well over $100K. Intel is quoted here too. Intel has always claimed that its H-1Bs are mainly holders of Master's degrees and PhDs. But if you look at the Dept. of Labor H-1B Web page, you find that the median prevailing wage quoted by Intel for its H-1Bs is about $65K. Contrast that to the fact that the national median salary for workers with a Master's in engineering is $82,333 and the median for a PhD is $105,500. (See reference to 2002 NSPE data at http://www.soe.stevens-tech.edu/seem/UG/SalaryArticle.pdf) This is either what I call Type I salary savings (paying H-1Bs less than comparable Americans) or Type II (hiring younger and thus cheaper H-1Bs in order to avoid hiring older/more expensive Americans), maybe both. Hiring H-1Bs is indeed mainly a matter of seeking cheap labor. The law says that employers must pay prevailing wage, but the law and regulations are riddled with loopholes concerning how that value is defined. Indeed, the DOL records show that AgreeYa claimed that the prevailing wage for those $36K programmers is only $33K. So, hey, AgreeYa paid them even better than prevailing wage. And the usual line that legal fees make hiring H-1Bs more expensive than hiring Americans is silly. Over the several years that the worker is employed as an H-1B, the employer is saving far more money via underpayment of wages than what the employer pays in legal fees. Do you think the H-1B program is a sham? I AgreeYa. Norm http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/12713594p-13565949c.html Conflicting visa news has local firms worried By Emily Bazar -- Bee Staff Writer Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, April 12, 2005 Though federal officials soon will begin issuing an additional 20,000 visas for highly skilled foreign workers, some area companies don't know if they'll be able to participate. The federal government initially said the new batch of H-1B visas - which could be available within days - must be awarded to graduates of U.S. universities with master's degrees or higher. But in March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) announced that the additional visas will not be limited to applicants with advanced degrees. The discrepancy has not been officially addressed, and has resulted in perplexed employers from Sacramento to Florida. "Count us confused," said Tracy Koon, director of corporate affairs for Intel Corp., which employs 6,500 people at its Folsom campus. Intel lobbied for the additional visas, Koon said, and wants them to be limited to applicants with advanced degrees. "Those are the people who are the most difficult to find, and they're the hardest positions to fill with U.S. citizens," she said. "The U.S. is graduating fewer Americans with these kinds of skills." H-1B visas allow skilled foreign nationals to work in the United States for up to six years. Many go on to obtain lawful permanent residence, also known as green-card status. Though this visa category is often associated with information technology workers and engineers, it is also used by fashion models, architects, writers and members of other professions. After the dot-com bust, Congress reduced the annual quota of H-1B visas from 195,000 to 65,000. That quota has been filled early in subsequent years, and companies have complained that they're unable to obtain visas for potential employees. As part of the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004, Congress called for an additional 20,000 visas annually, on top of the 65,000 quota. Chris Bentley, a spokesman for CIS in Washington, D.C., said the requirements for the additional visas will be clear when they're published soon in the Federal Register. The March announcement discounting the advanced degrees was "premature," he said. "Employers are going to know when, where and how to file for the new 20,000 exemptions," he said. Kim Berry, a Citrus Heights resident who is president of the Programmers Guild, believes the additional visas are unnecessary, and will take jobs from American workers. The guild is an organization of computer programmers. "There's no provision that qualified Americans should be considered first when these visas are granted," he said. "If you bring in 20,000 more visas, that's 20,000 more American workers added to the unemployment rate." Berry said employers prefer foreign workers because they're cheaper and are tied to an employer for a period of years. But Intel's Koon said her company must pay visa and legal fees to hire foreign workers. "It costs us more to hire with an H-1B," she said. Ajay Kaul, managing partner of AgreeYa Solutions in Folsom, said his business and consulting firm occasionally hires workers on H-1B visas. He's looking forward to the additional 20,000 visas, because the quickly filled quota has prevented him from hiring two employees, he said. One of the applicants has a master's degree and the other has a bachelor's, he said. As a result, Kaul said, he's waiting eagerly for the requirements to be posted in the Federal Register, so he knows whom he can hire. "To us," he said, "it does make a difference." About the writer: The Bee's Emily Bazar can be reached at (916) 321-1016 or ebazar@sacbee.com.