Government Seeks $1.4 Million in H1-B back pay!
Long time readers will know how I feel about the H1-B visa issue.
Look, in the IT business, the H1-B visa program is well known for the rampant abuse and the undercutting of salaries for American workers.
For you who are new to the blog, here’s the basic run-down. I think American workers should get jobs, of all kinds, not just tech jobs, before we import workers. But, we should import skilled workers who will pay taxes before we send those jobs off-shore. The reason I don’t like the H1-B visa program in particular is because I know for a fact that it was used to unfairly, and apparently illegally, undercut American workers and put them out on the street in favor of grossly underpaid imports.
Well, in a small bit of good news there, eWeek is reporting that the Federal government is going after $1.4 million in wages that H1-B visa holders were cheated out of via Peri Software Solutions. For those of us in the industry, I don’t think it’s any surprise that these folks had offices in India and had cheated 163 Indian IT people out of more than $1.4 million dollars in fair pay. Pay, incidentally, that they would have paid taxes on to the U.S.
While I think this is a great step, I can’t help but wonder, how many more companies like this are there who haven’t been caught or prosecuted? How many people have been unfairly abused this way? How many jobs were lost? How long will it take to do something and fix this broken system?
Local H1-B holders don’t just pay taxes, they rent apartments, buy automobiles, patronize restaurants and other businesses, and keep at least SOME of those dollars in the local economy.
On the other hand, in addition to undercutting American workers, it is often used as a form of legal slavery. H1-B visa-holders get the worst assignments and are paid considerably less, with the knowledge that if they complain about anything, they’ll get shipped back from whence they came posthaste.
Comment by tinyhands — 3/8/2010 @ 11:07 am
Yeah, actually, I tend to forget about the expenses staying local, which then keeps money in the local economy.
And, yes, the virtual slavery aspect of the H1-B situation is why it’s only *marginally* better than off-shoring. It’s those abuses that need to be locked down. Then, if there is a *real* need for skilled workers, like engineers and programmers and IT staff, and they can’t be found locally, then, and only then, will be attractive to bring in outside help.
Comment by the Network Geek — 3/8/2010 @ 12:11 pm