The title of the original post is "Analysis of 2.4M H-1B records shows $50k annual wage gap between employer types". That's not at all what the HN title conveys. The specific wage discrepancy is by "employer type", not some general discrepancy.
The section on geography is better.
The section about specific employers doesn't seem to go anywhere toward an analysis of wage discrepancy. It's just a statement about concentration and a hand-wavy extrapolation to wage discrepancies.
And you're right that I didn't prove concentration causes wage gaps, just that both exist. Would need to analyze if top 100 employers actually pay less than smaller sponsors. Geography section had tighter logic.
Lemme appreciate the feedback, this is my first time posting here on HN, and getting such great feedback will definitely pave my way forward. Thank you.
Employers don't want this. Policymakers also don't want this because higher wages (for everyone) may put inflation pressure. Instead, the middle ground is to have employers have their way by having hostage labor, while at the same time, keep spreading hate for H1bs so that local population doesn't feels alienated by policymakers.
The reason backlogged Green Card applicants stay in their sponsoring positions is because they don't want to restart the PERM process which is not transferable to another employer.
When a H-1B transfers to a new employer the approved I140 should be transferred too, assuming it's older than 180 days and the job meets the other requirements set out by AC21.
That would unlock a wave of job portability.
Also, it's not only Indians backlogged now. Almost all EB categories are backlogged across all nationalities although nowhere near as severe as India's.
I focused on what's measurable: the wage gap and its correlation with job-switching constraints. Policy intentions are beyond my scope - I'm just showing what the numbers reveal.
[Aditya Z]. (2025). "Analysis of H-1B Wage Disparities by Employer Type: Evidence from 2.4 Million Department of Labor Records (2020-2024)." Available at: [https://open.substack.com/pub/theh1brecords/p/analysis-of-h1...]
Key points for policymakers: • Dataset: DOL OFLC LCA Disclosure Data (2,404,784 certified applications) • Finding: $50,950 median annual wage gap between employer types • Mechanism: Mobility restrictions create monopsony conditions • Geographic: 52% concentration in 5 states amplifies effects
We can provide: - Full methodology documentation - Cleaned dataset (anonymized, aggregated) - Detailed methodology documentation - Raw source file list
Email for detailed briefing materials: theh1brecords@gmail.com
Note: This is empirical analysis of public data, not policy advocacy. The data patterns are reproducible and verifiable.
Key findings: - Product companies median: $150k - Staffing companies median: $99k - Annual gap: $50,950 (compounds to $305,700 over 6 years)
The mechanism appears to be mobility restriction creating monopsony conditions. When workers can't easily change jobs (employer-specific visa, 60-day rule), employers can offer below-market wages.
Used OFLC disclosure data, filtered to computer occupations (SOC 15-xxxx).
Happy to discuss methodology. Built an interactive calculator for people to check their specific situation.
The jobs titles many WITCH firms are submitting for are just not specialized at all -- Developer, analyst, whatever. I personally fail to see how this could possibly qualify for a H1B visa when there are 10s of millions of employees in the US matching these vague descriptions.
