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0 pointsbduerst10y ago0 comments

Except these are wages, not POS goods on ebay. Wages are typically set months in advance of sponsorship, and the volatility from an auction would deter most from even hiring during OPT. Lottery volatility is already making it hard, but an auction favors employers like the H1B shops who have more market signals and tips it in their favor.

Since the bidding is a solution to a problem caused by the cap on # of H1B visas, why not just do away with the cap?

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6 comments · 2 top-level

cameldrv10y ago· 4 in thread

The best part about the auction model is that you could have it monthly, and then the winning bid would be fairly well known in advance. Say it's 80k for a software developer, you know that you need to pay the guy 81k or don't bother. This also massively reduces the power of the wipros of the world that employ thousands of people and apply for all of them every year, filling up the quota for people that don't already work for an outsourcing company.

bduerstOP10y ago

Again, why not just remove the cap?

If you're rearranging the application process to solve problems created with the bidding, which is to solve problems from created from cap, why not just solve the original problem?

The review process and due diligence for H1B takes months, so signals are still only available in large intervals, which creates volatility that favors high quantity employers like H1B shops.

riskable10y ago

> Again, why not just remove the cap?

Because flooding the market with indentured $60,000 technical workers isn't good for American workers or America?

2 more replies

jacalata10y ago

Because the cap is a response to the US desire to not allow in an unlimited number of foreigners.

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ElysianEagle10y ago

Removing the cap would be a boon for employers but would seriously undermine wages for software devs here, I imagine.

India and China each graduate many times more software engineers each year than does the US. Many, perhaps even most, would love to work and stay in the US.

With a massive influx of engineers in a short span of time, I can't see how wages would remain where they are now in areas like NYC and SF. This is probably exactly what the Facebooks et al want, I guess.

3 more replies

WildUtah10y ago

"why not just do away with the cap?"

Because there are far, far too many low wage foreign programmers driving down wages already.

Why not abolish the program entirely? That's far more palatable.

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