[x5n1]

H1Bs are our century's slaves, imported to work the tech plantations. Cheaper than locals. Fewer rights. Easier to exploit. And also make their owners a lot of money. In this case they are better off for it, that much has changed.

[jmspring]

I'm mixed on your analogy. I would rather argue, H1Bs are the modern day SCABS (union comparison) when you consider Tata and the other body shops. They are there to be used by companies break down wages, remove workers, and ostensibly reduce costs.

Reality is, they do displace workers, but over the long terms costs go up due to lost customers and revenue and the need to replace those workers with competent unsourced individuals (happening a lot over the last 3-5 years).

This is not speaking to the general H1B individual, only those that places like Tata and IBM have been hiring to "offshore work" and "reduce costs"; and those same companies slowly lose enterprise customers fed up with the lack of quality.

HP was another company that took on contracts providing corporate IT services, outsourced them and then found customers firing them and then insourcing talent.

[Swinx43]

This is quite a harsh analysis but not too far from the truth. The limitations placed on H1Bs and the fact that you are really easier to exploit is one of the main reasons I have chosen in the past to go to a different country for work. If an H1B had the same rights as say a Tier 1 migrant in the UK you would see A LOT less abuse of this system.

A Tier 1 migrant in the UK has total freedom over who they can work for. They are not tied to a particular company and as such can leave for a better job without any administration overhead for them. They also have the ability to start their own company without any restrictions. This places them on equal footing with any local job applicants as they cannot be forced to work for lower than the industry going wage.

[gmt2027]

Tier 2 migrants are far more common in the UK and subject to similar restrictions as H1B.

[CamperBob2]

Yeah, it's pretty damn far from the truth. If you know of H1B workers who were violently kidnapped in their home countries and stacked like cordwood in the holds of ships bound for slave auctions in America, I'd urge you to log off of HN and contact the appropriate authorities without further delay.

[x5n1]

You forget that the Coolie trade of Indian indentured workers went hand in hand with the slave trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolie

[CamperBob2]

I didn't forget, it's just equally irrelevant. Slavery and other forms of human trafficking are very real issues worldwide, even in the 21st century. It's demeaning (not to mention just plain stupid) to compare H1B workers to slaves.

[jzwinck]

And how easy is it to get Tier 1 in the UK now? As an American, say.

[mirchibajji]

Tier-1 General category is now closed. https://www.gov.uk/tier-1-general/overview I moved to the UK on a Tier-1 in 2010, and it was very straight forward, points based system.

[tallanvor]

Not that easy, at least, I wasn't able to do so back around 2008 and ended up moving to Norway instead.

[drethemadrapper]

You rock! So is the issuing of PR permits for some countries.I have been there...