Unmentioned reasons on why H1Bs are “paid less” and some more thoughts /u/arcticmonkeyzz CSCQ protests reddit

Been reading a lot of stuff on X and here lately. One point that caught my observations are the H1B salaries and how they are so “low”. Here’s my thoughts on how to interpret some of that data and then some more:

Most H1B holders are students who came to the US on an F1 visa. This means that

• They are on student loans or self-funded from their home country and contribute around 30-70K on average during their studies (i.e. money coming into the US from another currency – and yes, of course they send money back home after getting a job but not the scale you think!). As long as they are students they can’t even work off-campus part time, at least legally.
• They are immediate tax-payers in the US and do not pay taxes in their home country. These taxes include benefits they can’t even avail at times.
• They clearly subsidize the in-state tuition for citizens as well as research funding. There are a lot of cash cows universities that blindly accept F1 applications. Eradicating the H1B will lead to a drop in students here. Do you think the in-state tuition stays the same? Do you think research funding is the same? Maybe focus on the admission practices of these universities?
• They create some jobs for locals (by housing, admin, etc – jobs which immigrants cannot hold in the US – now you could argue that they drive property and rent prices up; but… if done correctly and resources are managed efficiently then the housing market could create a lot of jobs for locals)

And critically, F1 students don’t graduate university with an H1B in their hand. They need to be employed from a company willing to sponsor an application, and then they get one (via a lottery!) Until then

• They have 1-3 years of work allowed (3 if STEM, else 1)
• They are usually new grads at the start of their career (hence a lower rate than average household income)
• Most non-FAANG companies cannot bet on an F1 student staying in the country for longer than 3 years so they are either unwilling to sponsor OR have to provide a lower salary (economics)
• However once these F1 students are hired, they have a chance to get an H1B (with the initial lower salary that they were hired on)

That is why comparing “newly acquired H1B salaries” with the average salary doesn’t make sense without the full context. Also base salary isn’t TC. I haven’t seen any median salary comparison of H1Bs with 3-4 years of experience vs median annual income in the US?

Most of the comparison online on X has been from last year’s data. And last year was rough. For citizens and immigrants alike. We all know that. So raising the salary requirements for an H1B is a good option, but there needs to be a balance in what that number should be. 300K is ridiculous. You will get a drop in H1B students, which is a drop in money flowing into the country. I don’t know what the appropriate number is.

HOWEVER

Yeah, there are scammy people. No doubt about it. There are fake profiles, fake companies, and companies like Cognizant that just bring across employees on an H1B. No net benefit to the US except these corporations. There are some shady hiring practices as well. Trust me, the legit F1 students are as tired of these practices as citizens are.

So focus the efforts on those problems without being so racist? And not on saying that H1B holders are taking jobs away? There are a lot of legitimate good apples. The bad apples, while present, are fewer. There are just 85K H1B selections each calendar year. That isn’t a big number tbh.

Cultural differences are not just across countries. They are within countries, and within states as well. The US elections showed that. Be cognizant of that lol. Anger might be valid but it is possibly misdirected.

TLDR

Focus on reform and understand the side-effects of removing the H1B. Don’t be plainly racist.

Been reading a lot of stuff on X and here lately. One point that caught my observations are the H1B salaries and how they are so “low”. Here’s my thoughts on how to interpret some of that data and then some more:

Most H1B holders are students who came to the US on an F1 visa. This means that

• They are on student loans or self-funded from their home country and contribute around 30-70K on average during their studies (i.e. money coming into the US from another currency – and yes, of course they send money back home after getting a job but not the scale you think!). As long as they are students they can’t even work off-campus part time, at least legally.
• They are immediate tax-payers in the US and do not pay taxes in their home country. These taxes include benefits they can’t even avail at times.
• They clearly subsidize the in-state tuition for citizens as well as research funding. There are a lot of cash cows universities that blindly accept F1 applications. Eradicating the H1B will lead to a drop in students here. Do you think the in-state tuition stays the same? Do you think research funding is the same? Maybe focus on the admission practices of these universities?
• They create some jobs for locals (by housing, admin, etc – jobs which immigrants cannot hold in the US – now you could argue that they drive property and rent prices up; but… if done correctly and resources are managed efficiently then the housing market could create a lot of jobs for locals)

And critically, F1 students don’t graduate university with an H1B in their hand. They need to be employed from a company willing to sponsor an application, and then they get one (via a lottery!) Until then

• They have 1-3 years of work allowed (3 if STEM, else 1)
• They are usually new grads at the start of their career (hence a lower rate than average household income)
• Most non-FAANG companies cannot bet on an F1 student staying in the country for longer than 3 years so they are either unwilling to sponsor OR have to provide a lower salary (economics)
• However once these F1 students are hired, they have a chance to get an H1B (with the initial lower salary that they were hired on)

That is why comparing “newly acquired H1B salaries” with the average salary doesn’t make sense without the full context. Also base salary isn’t TC. I haven’t seen any median salary comparison of H1Bs with 3-4 years of experience vs median annual income in the US?

Most of the comparison online on X has been from last year’s data. And last year was rough. For citizens and immigrants alike. We all know that. So raising the salary requirements for an H1B is a good option, but there needs to be a balance in what that number should be. 300K is ridiculous. You will get a drop in H1B students, which is a drop in money flowing into the country. I don’t know what the appropriate number is.

HOWEVER

Yeah, there are scammy people. No doubt about it. There are fake profiles, fake companies, and companies like Cognizant that just bring across employees on an H1B. No net benefit to the US except these corporations. There are some shady hiring practices as well. Trust me, the legit F1 students are as tired of these practices as citizens are.

So focus the efforts on those problems without being so racist? And not on saying that H1B holders are taking jobs away? There are a lot of legitimate good apples. The bad apples, while present, are fewer. There are just 85K H1B selections each calendar year. That isn’t a big number tbh.

Cultural differences are not just across countries. They are within countries, and within states as well. The US elections showed that. Be cognizant of that lol. Anger might be valid but it is possibly misdirected.

TLDR

Focus on reform and understand the side-effects of removing the H1B. Don’t be plainly racist.