I have a friend who has been developing and investing in Austin for 30 years, even he is not as bullish as Hanera…I am selling my interest in a Sugarland development deal…lost money…not even sure how much…Texas is boom bust…Ready for another bust…
If we’re going to be dumb enough to not let STEM graduates stay, then we should eliminate the student visas. There no point in educating people that will have to go back home and compete against US companies. I don’t see a point in banning foreign students from STEM programs since Americans have proven to be either unwilling or unable to fill all the spots in STEM programs. Our companies won’t be successful if they are forced to rely on art history majors to become coders. I’m sure you can find a few that did it, but our tech companies need hundreds of thousands of them.
3 Likes
Do you know why they are called coders? Is like calling a pilot, driver 
Designing algorithm needs creativity 
This is where you can tell an above average from an average coder
Time to sell RE in SFBA?
Come on, Bay Area RE is resilient like a nice Goretex jacket. We can weather this storm…
It reminds me of a NYT article by a constutional law professor. All these agencies are a way for the president to over reach executive power and enact significant rules, regulations, and laws without a single vote by an elected official. It’s made us much closer to a rotating dictatorship, since these agencies are only accountable to the president.
Assuming this report is true, some of these changes will require Congress authorization & I don’t expect them to pass due to lobbying by Tech companies.
1 Like
People wonder why middle America isn’t a fan of silicon valley. It’s a bunch of non-Americans getting rich while middle America keeps losing jobs.
Yet, they love to use smart phones (Apple), post crazy pics/stay in touch with family and friends (Facebook), and search for info, like why HAPAs supposedly rank #1 over ABCs (Google)… go figure
It’s middle American culture’s own fault for viewing nerds as being uncool. So no one wanted to grow up being a nerd that’s why all the rich tech jobs ended up in the hands of foreigners. They have no one to blame but themselves!
2 Likes
Hehehe… you can always dye your hair blond to try to pass for a hapa. In fact a lot of people doing just that.
Ok, back to paying for play in the world of H-1B…
1 Like
Level one wage for programmer is only 55k for south Bay. That seems really low and almost seems cheap labor instead of skilled labor. And 41% of H1B applicants are at this pay level?! Google/Facebook does not pay this kind of salary. Which company is paying this little?
"fiscal year 2015, 41 percent of all approved H-1B applications were at a Level 1 wage, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Level 1 salaries are often limited to positions that require less than two years of experience. Level 4 salaries, the highest possible wage rate, are typically reserved for positions requiring at least five years of experience."
Your search returned the following: Print Format
Area Code:41940
Area Title:San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA MSA
OES/SOC Code:15-1131
OES/SOC Title:Computer Programmers
GeoLevel:1
Level 1 Wage:$26.54 hour - $55,203 year
Level 2 Wage:$36.51 hour - $75,941 year
Level 3 Wage:$46.48 hour - $96,678 year
Level 4 Wage:$56.45 hour - $117,416 year
Mean Wage (H-2B):$46.48 hour - $96,678 year
http://www.flcdatacenter.com/OesQuickResults.aspx?code=15-1131&area=41940&year=18&source=1
My guess is Infosys and the other outsourcing firms pay that low. I agree that’s insanely low for bay area. My friend pays more than that for customer support. It requires decent reading and typing skills (no degree). I think any engineer in the bay area should start at level 2 (obviously higher for more prestigious schools).
I know some contract Infosys employees and don’t think any of them are paid Level 1 salaries in Bay Area. People complain they cannot maintain same lifestyle that they had in Bangalore at Level 4 salaries in Bay Area, let alone anyone willing to come work in Bay Area for Level 1 salaries. Infosys might be paying Level 1 salaries in mid-West.
Most of Level 1 salaries are paid by smaller (<100 employee) US IT consulting companies who’s sole business is hiring cheap engineers from India and getting them into contract positions at Cisco, Oracle, etc. These are popularly known as ‘body-shops’.
1 Like
Well, it seems that the racist president hasn’t left any human being untouched with his hatred against anybody not conforming to his likes.
Somehow, the new rules touch the unforeseen aspect of wives or husbands accompanying an H1B visa holder to a country where they shouldn’t be coming to. There’s an inhumane but understandable point on this; a wife, which I believe is the one always grabbing the short end of the stick on these issues, is the one that comes here, and is treated as a servant, rather than somebody willing and able to make her host country better by being able to work.
So, why is she coming to a country where, legally, she can’t work? She better then stay at home and take care of the babies, if any. Then, allegedly, these visa holders, the principal, is here for work, not to stay and live in the US. I hope they don’t see it this way, allowing non-immigrants to come and just work, no green card. The H1B visa industry would suffer because nobody would dare to come here if a green card is not at the end of the line. These people then would be like the temporary worker program the Mexicans had many years ago. End or work season or contract? Go back to your country of origin.
It also touches and wakes up the insensitive idea of the anchor baby. If a wife is here only to accompany her husband, but then she has a baby, should that baby be of the nationality of hers or an American baby?
You know where I am going with this. It’s coming!