[vox-tech] Re: vox-tech Digest, Vol 4, Issue 1

[Norm Matloff]

> Microsoft is a big H1B company.  But they REALLY pay their H1B people well.
> Take a look at the Microsoft H1B jobs:
 
> http://www.h1b.info/lca_job_list.php?name=MICROSOFT+CORP&employer=microsoft&year=2003
 
>    Application Platform Solution Sales Specialist
 
> Carla Weitkamp is being paid $100,000.  I would gladly do her job for half
> that amount.

Ms. Weitkamp is apparently the attorney handling Microsoft's H-1B
paperwork.  She is not the worker here.

Concerning the salary, that may be less than they pay U.S. citizens and
permanent residents for the same job and same qualifications.  E.g. if
the worker, say, has an in with the government of China, he/she'd be
worth a lot more than $100K, and thus would still be underpaid.  There
may be an American, say a naturalized citizen originally from China, who
has good connections in China too, but Microsoft may have to pay that
person much more.  In other words, one cannot say that the only abuses
are the ones paying $22/hr.

Another issue is that sometimes an H-1B is hired out of pure nepotism.
A worker may be the manager's brother-in-law, for instance, and no one
would know.  This is quite common, and was cited in a Dept. of Labor
audit of the H-1B program some years ago.

Needless to say, Pete, I agree with your general point.  But don't
expect any solutions any time soon.  Both major parties have basically
called for an *increase* in the yearly H-1B cap, believe it or not.  If
even 10,000 programmers and engineers--i.e. a tiny percentage of the
profession--were to flood Congress and the White House with calls on
this issue, things would be very different.  But this profession has
some of the most apathetic and anti-activist people around.

Norm