As someone who's thinking of moving to the United States it's interesting to me how this will play out. On the one hand I can imagine that some companies are misusing the H1B quotas to hire not-particularly-skilled workers willing to work for lower than market wages. But on the other hand it is not at all clear to me that companies engaging in this would be your typical SV corporation.
Perhaps someone more tuned in to this situation can chime in with some stats whether this is actually an issue for the American labor force i.e. a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
Big companies will grow their offices in Canada and Europe. H1B prospects will go there instead, and these growing offices will attract many Americans as well. The tax revenue from these people, not to mention more abstract benefits like "brain capital", will go to other nations.
People, especially those with fond memories of manufacturing booms, need to start realizing that you can't have capitalism and avoid globalization (not unless you shut all the doors, which is not a reasonable suggestion). The sooner people realize it the smoother things will go.
On a certain level I agree with the fluidity of the labor market and companies may eventually successfully grow their companies in Europe for example as you suggest, in the face of increasing visa hurdles and anti-immmigrant rhetoric from Trump. However, it must also be noted that major barriers exist to free movement of labor, not so much in terms of legislation today but simply individual preferences.
I can think of a few reasons why the US is great on several dimensions people often compare countries they would wish to move to (vast expanse of nature, friendly culture, relatively low taxes, no language barriers aka english speaking populace). In comparison many countries in Europe would simply be a no-go for me simply from the language point of view. I would merely exist as a second class citizen unable to decipher my electricity bills or read billboards etc. To me little things like this cause a deterioration of the quality of life over a long period of time. I would never feel a sense of understanding of my environment in such a situation and to me that seems fundamental in the long run.
They way I see it, there should however be legitimate fear of losing out on human capital to other english speaking nations like Canada, Australia, UK, etc.
To me little things like this cause a deterioration of the quality of life over a long period of time
It's impossible to interpret your post in any way other than that you seem to not realize languages can be learned. I realize this is very unlikely, but that's how it reads.
Also, realize that for a huge percentage of the people we are talking about English is not their first language.
I have learned a foreign language as an adult (french) to some degree of fluency after 3 years but it's a lot of hard work and not something I would take on lightly on top of other all the other things I need to focus on as an adult. Also, I notice that different people are happy with widely varying degrees of fluency. Personally I couldn't see myself achieve the kind of easy fluency I enjoy in english in french unless I spent 10 more years living in France, and there is a huge opportunity cost behind such a decision.
About your second point, I'm merely talking about people who would consider moving from the US to some other country because of the incumbent president's actions/policies. To me it seems that the vast majority of such people would not consider moving to Germany or Sweden for example, just because of the language constraints (unless they are german or swedish, which would constitute a small percentage of employees).
As the great philosopher jagger said: You cant always get what you want- (The very best for the job on the planet) but if you try sometimes- (you get someone who is just very good at learning) - you get what you need.
Yeah, americans are so exceptional. We can teach the high school drop outs and English majors to run the tech giants. And all the inferior foreign competitors will still be bowing over and witnessing the mighty angels dancing glamorously for their final judgement.
USA! USA! USA!
I've been turned down for jobs because I don't speak a Chinese language.
I've been turned down for a job because I wouldn't be a culture fit for the majority Indian development staff.
I've been told "No, you can't work from home.. if you can work remotely, we can eliminate your position and have someone in India do it for 1/4 the price."
I'd imagine that a lot of Americans are sick of being told that they need to have immigrants coming to do the jobs, and are sick of being told that "there are jobs Americans won't do." I know that I am.
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[ 1.7 ms ] story [ 48.1 ms ] threadPerhaps someone more tuned in to this situation can chime in with some stats whether this is actually an issue for the American labor force i.e. a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
People, especially those with fond memories of manufacturing booms, need to start realizing that you can't have capitalism and avoid globalization (not unless you shut all the doors, which is not a reasonable suggestion). The sooner people realize it the smoother things will go.
I can think of a few reasons why the US is great on several dimensions people often compare countries they would wish to move to (vast expanse of nature, friendly culture, relatively low taxes, no language barriers aka english speaking populace). In comparison many countries in Europe would simply be a no-go for me simply from the language point of view. I would merely exist as a second class citizen unable to decipher my electricity bills or read billboards etc. To me little things like this cause a deterioration of the quality of life over a long period of time. I would never feel a sense of understanding of my environment in such a situation and to me that seems fundamental in the long run.
They way I see it, there should however be legitimate fear of losing out on human capital to other english speaking nations like Canada, Australia, UK, etc.
It's impossible to interpret your post in any way other than that you seem to not realize languages can be learned. I realize this is very unlikely, but that's how it reads.
Also, realize that for a huge percentage of the people we are talking about English is not their first language.
About your second point, I'm merely talking about people who would consider moving from the US to some other country because of the incumbent president's actions/policies. To me it seems that the vast majority of such people would not consider moving to Germany or Sweden for example, just because of the language constraints (unless they are german or swedish, which would constitute a small percentage of employees).
I have lived on both coasts and know for a fact that H1-b holders under cut me and then hotrack in Redmond while sending home remittances.
I have also went up for work, gotten approval for the job from a local just to get the thumbs down by a visa holder.
I am also aware the we need foriegn workers to help tanslate and sell products over seas.
I travel, a lot. And I have many stories.
I've been turned down for jobs because I don't speak a Chinese language.
I've been turned down for a job because I wouldn't be a culture fit for the majority Indian development staff.
I've been told "No, you can't work from home.. if you can work remotely, we can eliminate your position and have someone in India do it for 1/4 the price."
I'd imagine that a lot of Americans are sick of being told that they need to have immigrants coming to do the jobs, and are sick of being told that "there are jobs Americans won't do." I know that I am.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html