Back to the original channel..

[quote=deadzone]This topic has been debated countless times already on this site. Bottom line is, yes, the idea of shortage of STEM graduates is propaganda and not backed up by factual data. The assumption is this purpose of this propaganda is corporate interests wanting to increase hiring of H1B visa workers.[/quote]

More Info:

As of April, all of the allotted 2017 H1B visa’s have been spoken for http://www.theindianpanorama.news/united-states-america/h-1b-cap-reached-majority-applications-indian-companies-250k-applications-5-days/ . The H1B visa lasts about 6 years (There are extensions https://www.usavisanow.com/h-1b-visa/h1b-visa-resources/h-1b-renewal-extension/ ), this years allotment was about 65,000. This would also mean that there may be about 390,000 people currently in the US under H1B visas. I would hazard that the number is actually significantly more due to use/abuse of extensions.

How the FY-2016 H-1B Visa Lottery Works

Considering that the income floor is $60,000 on getting a H1B visa approved, it is easy to game – particularly when Masters and PhD candidates are given preference. Remember that the suggested min wage of $15/hour comes to almost $30,000/year – so the floor requirement on H1Bs is just twice minimum wage. (NOTE: I need to track down the ref for the $60k and preferential treatment of advanced degrees – oh, just found it https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/FactSheet62/whdfs62Q.pdf)

What I have been seeing are job reqs that are requiring a very large skill-set, but are for Associate/Junior Engineer categories. The skill-set required would not be found with a Associate or Junior engineer. Note that the $60k is just a little above what Bachelor of Science Engineering graduates currently make. http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Bachelor_of_Engineering_%28BEng_%2F_BE%29/Salary The high reqs make it hard for anyone of that job ‘category’ (ie: Associate/Junior Engineer) to have the required skills. The H1B rating for ‘Prevailing wage’ is match to job Category/Grade and NOT the actual required skills.

I suspect the whole thing is being played to reduce wages of US citizens who have taken the STEM route – to the benefit of companies (and their directors/CEOs), detriment of the US workers; increase supply of workers above demand to push down wages. Everything is supply/demand in a Capitalistic system.

Here are some:
Generic “Computer Programmer”, York PA at Cillium Corp, offering $54,059 for an H1B worker.
Java UI Developer, Worcester MA, AVCO Consulting @ $69,160
Cute one here: It seems they want to have any ‘checking’ think it is a grade I when it is a grade III? (what is a grade Iii???)
Computer Systems Engineers/Architects- Iii, Sunnyvale CA, HCL America Inc, $71,032.00 (This is not even a level 1 wage)

Some of the H1B sponsor postings I saw looked valid, but a lot are fishy.