[FormerLurker]

I can't believe how many companies in Seattle use H1-Bs. I had to narrow down my criteria as I maxed out the number of responses.

It's a known fact that MOST of the money that these workers make goes back to their families at home. This removes that money from the US economy. There is an estimated 1 million H1-B computer professionals in this country. If we take an average pay of $80,000 a year for a US worker, then that equates to $80 BILLION a year leaving the US economy. And people wonder why things aren't good with the stock market...

[lelio]

I noticed that a lot of the companies using H1Bs a lot (like Aditi, which came up as I could only get to the C's) are founded by Indians. Perhaps they're more comfortable hiring their own. Perhaps they want to save money. Perhaps they're hiring their brother's cousin. Either way it stinks that they can get cheap labor like this through a gift by Congress.

[KingKongCobra]

Your pitiful math and logic skills tell an interesting story. You picked an outlandish number for average salary and the assume 100% of it leaves the U.S. Ergo, the worker paid zero taxes and lives here for free and never needs a bite to eat. Where can I get one of these magic Visas?

[sinkspur]

If we take an average pay of $80,000 a year for a US worker, then that equates to $80 BILLION a year leaving the US economy. And people wonder why things aren't good with the stock market...

OK. Eliminate H-1Bs entirely.

You know what happens next? Your company will simply outsource development to India. It's easily done, and India resources can undercut American programmers by 50%.

My company sells Indian outsourcing, and we're doing very well right now.

It's all about productivity. Get out of programming and into project management.

[DAnconia55]

It's a known fact that MOST of the money that these workers make goes back to their families at home. This removes that money from the US economy. There is an estimated 1 million H1-B computer professionals in this country. If we take an average pay of $80,000 a year for a US worker, then that equates to $80 BILLION a year leaving the US economy

Stick to software work. Ecomonics isn't your forte.

[eno_]

Assuming these workers are generating more value than they are costing, it would blow a $100-200 billion hole in the economy to send them home. How many Amercian welfare cases are the taxes on this income supporting? How many hundreds of billions worth in higher education did these engineers' home countries export to us? These are not wetbacks. Many of these people are compensating for our dumbed-down eductaion system.

It is very true that many service companies and consultancies abuse H1-B visas to get cheap warm bodies to bill to their clients. But R&D workers on H1-B are a no-lose proposition. It is money in our pockets, and no loss of jobs - the activity that new products generate creates many more jobs.

So if we limit H1-B visas, it should be done in a way that enables the highest-value people for the highest-value positions to still come here, while keeping out the seatwarmers at KPMG and EDS.

[SwordofTruth]

Foreign workers are more likely to not be loyal to the USA and represent a HUGE security risk for many US firms. Companies may be receiving cheaper skilled labor for the short-term, but this shortsighted approach can and most likely will turn around and bite them in the long-term.