Excess (Imported) Supply and Phantom Demand
http://www.npr.org/2013/02/19/172373123/older-tech-workers-oppose-increasing-h-1b-visas
"KASTE: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, wages for computer programmers have stagnated. In fact, between 2001 and 2011, the mean hourly wage didn't even keep up with inflation. It's still less than $40. Microsoft says there have been some healthy increases recently - not reflected in the government numbers. But for critics of the system, it's apparent that the H1-B visas work as a kind of pressure-release valve on pay. Matloff also thinks the visas let companies avoid hiring older programmers.
MATLOFF: You can be an exact fit, but if you're 35, you're probably not going to even get a phone call. And meanwhile, the company is going to tell the press that there's just not any qualified people."
"BRUCE MORRISON: You hire the alien first, and then you manipulate the regulatory system to prove that you can't find an American.
KASTE: Bruce Morrison shaped the H1-B system as chairman of the House Immigration Committee two decades ago. Now, as an immigration lawyer and a lobbyist, he says employers have become too fond of the temporary foreign workers.
MORRISON: One factor is that if people are here on H1-Bs, they are less demanding than Americans who have choices about where they might work."
"KASTE: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, wages for computer programmers have stagnated. In fact, between 2001 and 2011, the mean hourly wage didn't even keep up with inflation. It's still less than $40. Microsoft says there have been some healthy increases recently - not reflected in the government numbers. But for critics of the system, it's apparent that the H1-B visas work as a kind of pressure-release valve on pay. Matloff also thinks the visas let companies avoid hiring older programmers.
MATLOFF: You can be an exact fit, but if you're 35, you're probably not going to even get a phone call. And meanwhile, the company is going to tell the press that there's just not any qualified people."
"BRUCE MORRISON: You hire the alien first, and then you manipulate the regulatory system to prove that you can't find an American.
KASTE: Bruce Morrison shaped the H1-B system as chairman of the House Immigration Committee two decades ago. Now, as an immigration lawyer and a lobbyist, he says employers have become too fond of the temporary foreign workers.
MORRISON: One factor is that if people are here on H1-Bs, they are less demanding than Americans who have choices about where they might work."