The lure of H-1B is not really the money savings. Go look at the graduating class of computer science students at large universities. A large fraction are international students. Universities thrive on them since they pay the most tuition and are generally not allowed any financial aid. Companies want to hire them in addition to U.S. citizens. That's it. No Silicon Valley company that I know of pays H-1B and citizens different wages on that basis.

The difficulty of switching jobs on H1-B has always been a myth. Voluntary job switches are just as easy as U.S. citizens. You just line up things well without the possibility of taking a long break in between jobs. Dealing with unexpected job terminations (fired or laid off) is the problem.

It's not strictly about the money. (Though it is absolutely also about that)

> Dealing with unexpected job terminations (fired or laid off) is the problem.

Herein lies the problem. This gives employers absolutely massive leverage over the employees, which lets them coerce things like ridiculous unpaid overtime and downright abuse.

Even if you pay the same nominal salary, the H-1B is "cheaper" if you can force them to work 60-80h whereas a top-class American is just going to demand 40h weeks. (Though in practice, those extra hours rarely see increased productivity, so whether it's actually cheaper for outputs obtained is up for debate.)

Contrast: Europe. Tech salaries are low by US standards, but you don't see as much of the outsourcing & migrant worker hype around it. European labour laws mean you can't set up a sweatshop in your branch office, and European migrants to the US won't put up with labour abuses as much.

> Voluntary job switches are just as easy as U.S. citizens.

Then why did my wife's friends that lost their H-1B jobs have to leave America?

American citizens don't face deportation with job loss.

Also, as a US citizen, I'm free to quit my job anytime I want. If I don't like putting up with my job because of some bullshit my employer pulls, I can easily leave. That is absolutely not the case for sponsored workers.

H-1B workers are stressed out and paranoid about their employment. They'll put up with far more, for far longer, with less compensation.

I work (in Europe) for an American company. All the people in IT we hire in USA are foreigners, they are cheaper. You cannot say it is discrimination on wages because everyone is paid low. The visa system allows the company to pay low wages and hiring foreigners is just a small detail in the scheme.

Anecdotal statistic, in my department all the people in US and Canada hired in the past 10-15 years are from Africa or India. The only Americans or Canadians are the managers, they joined 20-30 years ago and slowly retiring, now being replaced mostly by Indians.

It is happening the same in Western Europe, just with a different demographic.

> No Silicon Valley company that I know of pays H-1B and citizens different wages on that basis.

larger pool means lower wages. this is so fundamental and obvious that it feels like i'm being gaslit when i see shit like this.

Econ 101: increased supply lowers prices (wages).

> Companies want to hire them in addition to U.S. citizens. That's it.

As opposed to the rest of the graduating class that is already considered a legal citizen?

Your logic doesn’t make sense. “In addition to every option available that doesn’t have additional legal framework attached, these specific people are also desirable.”

Why?