H-1Bs: Still Not the Best and the Brightest
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In pressuring Congress to expand the H-1B work visa and employment-based green card programs, industry lobbyists have recently adopted a new tack. Seeing that their past cries of a tech labor shortage are contradicted by stagnant or declining wages, their new buzzword is innovation. Building on their perennial assertion that the foreign workers are “the best and the brightest,” they now say that continued U.S. leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) hinges on our ability to import the world’s best engineers and scientists. Yet, this Backgrounder will present new data analysis showing that the vast majority of the foreign workers—including those at most major tech firms—are people of just ordinary talent, doing ordinary work. They are not the innovators the industry lobbyists portray them to be.
{snip} If the foreign workers are indeed outstanding talents, they would be paid accordingly. We can thus easily determine whether a foreign worker is among “the best and the brightest” by computing the ratio of his salary to the prevailing wage figure stated by the employer. Let’s call this the Talent Measure (TM). Keep in mind that a TM value of 1.0 means that the worker is merely average, not of outstanding talent.
I computed median TM values for various subgroups of interest. A summary of the results is:
* The median TM value over all foreign workers studied was just a hair over 1.0.
* The median TM value was also essentially 1.0 in each of the tech professions studied.
* Median TM was near 1.0 for almost all prominent tech firms that were analyzed.
* Contrary to the constant hyperbole in the press that “Johnnie can’t do math” in comparison with kids in Asia, TM values for workers from Western European countries tend to be much higher than those of their Asian counterparts.
Again noting that a TM value of 1.0 means just average, the data show dramatically that most foreign workers, the vast majority of whom are from Asia, are in fact not “the best and the brightest.”
This article also presents further data showing an equally important point:
* Most foreign workers work at or near entry level, described by the Department of Labor in terms akin to apprenticeship. This counters the industry’s claim that they hire the workers as key innovators, and again we will see a stark difference between the Asians and Europeans.
{snip}
Talent Measure Analysis
Again, I take as our Talent Measure (TM) the ratio of a worker’s salary to the prevailing wage claimed by the employer. The employer is legally required to pay at least the prevailing wage, and must state on the PERM application how that wage level was determined.3 Since the application will be rejected if the wage offered is below the prevailing wage, by definition all values of TM will be at least 1.0. The latter value means “the average worker,” i.e. of average talent, so if most workers have TM values close to 1.0, then most are probably not “the best and the brightest.”
{snip}
The trend, both general and for STEM occupations, is clear: Most TM values are only a little higher than 1.0, indicating that most of the foreign workers are not outstanding talents.
{snip}
Lobbyists for the big firms often claim that abuse of the H-1B program occurs mainly in Indian-owned “bodyshops” (firms that subcontract H-1Bs to larger companies), while by contrast the big firms are hiring “the best and the brightest.” Yet neither this scapegoating of the Indians nor the claim of hiring the top talents is warranted. Consider the TM values after disaggregation by firm:
Though these figures are slightly above the overall figures we saw earlier, they still show that the firms are not paying salaries indicating top talents.
{snip}
East vs. West
The lobbyists love to claim that the industry resorts to hiring foreign workers because Americans are weak in math and science. Various international comparisons of math/science test scores at the K-12 level are offered as “evidence.” The claims are specious—after all, both major sources of foreign tech workers, India and China, refuse to participate in those tests, and India continues to be plagued with a high illiteracy rate. Serious educational research, including an earlier Arizona State university report4 and a recent major study by the Urban Institute5 show clearly that mainstream American kids are doing fine in STEM.
Nevertheless, the “Asian mystique” persists. The image is that our tech industry owes its success to armies of mathematical geniuses arriving to U.S. graduate schools from Asia. Once again, though, the data do not support this perception. Here is a comparison of TM values for foreign workers from the major Asian countries and their counterparts in Europe and Canada:
The differences here are not large, but nevertheless, all of the Western nations have higher median TM values than all the Asian nations—quite the opposite of the portrayal by the industry lobbyists.
Taking a closer look, let’s tabulate median TM for the major worker-sending nations in both hemispheres, against the major occupations:
While still mild, the trend again indicates that the Western foreign workers are the more talented ones.
{snip}
Level of Hire
As noted, recently the industry lobbyists have adopted an innovation theme, in which they claim that the U.S. lead in tech depends on hiring innovators from abroad. The analysis above demonstrates that the foreign workers are in fact generally not outstanding talents, thus casting serious doubt on the claim that innovators are being hired. Here we pursue this point further, by examining the level at which the imported workers are hired.
{snip}
The results first show, once again, that rather few of the foreign workers are at Level IV, the level of real expertise whose description is associated with innovation. Most are in fact in Levels I and II, whose DOL definitions are for apprentice-like positions with only “limited exercise of judgment,” clearly not jobs for innovators.
Second, this pattern also holds individually for the most common job titles.
Third, the East-vs.-West pattern observed earlier for the TM data also holds for levels of expertise, with Asians typically being hired into non-innovative jobs while more Europeans are in the types of positions that could involve innovation.
{snip}
Conclusions
The lobbyists know that crying educational doom-and-gloom sells. Even though it was mainly “Johnnie,” rather than Arvind or Qing-Ling, who originally developed the computer industry, and even though all major East Asian governments have lamented their educational systems’ stifling of creativity, the lobbyists have convinced Congress that the industry needs foreign workers from Asia in order to innovate.
The facts show otherwise. Most foreign tech workers, particularly those from Asia, are in fact not “the best and the brightest.” This is true both overall and in the key tech occupations, and most importantly, in the firms most stridently demanding that Congress admit more foreign workers. Expansion of the guest worker programs—both H-1B visas and green cards—is unwarranted.
End Notes
{snip}
[Editor’s Note: Readers are encouraged to see the charts in the original article, which can be found here.]
(Posted on April 29, 2008)
Comments
For six years, I averaged a patent awarded every four weeks.
I have 79 US and foreign patents, so with a four-count felony conviction, I think that still puts me 75 ahead. I want two-and-a-half percent of any royalties that a company I work for gets on any patent I am awarded. That has to be up-front and signed by the CEO and Board of Directors; no “promises.” Let the shareholders sue the board if they don’t like it. I also want a regular salary high enough that I’ll be happy to tell the headhunters to shop elsewhere. I think $60K a year as a regular salary would do it, plus the 2.5% on all patent royalties.
I know what I can do, and I have a daughter. We want more kids, and I’d like to be able to afford their college tuition.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 6:35 PM on April 29
“The lobbyists love to claim that the industry resorts to hiring foreign workers because Americans are weak in math and science.”
The foreign children clogging our schools are weak in math and science…and English, and History, etc.
Posted by passingthru at 6:38 PM on April 29
Wow!!!! It is about time. It disgusts me how brainwashed Americans are on this issue.
Posted by Courtney at 7:04 PM on April 29
There is a more fundamental point that never should be lost sight of:Asians should be kept out because they are not our kind.
If the Chinese-and a more more general asian exclusion act-had not been repealed, we would not have the problem of the Asian H-1 and L-1 visa program.
If you are a White Nationalist,labor policy should be focused on developing Native Born American Youth for careers in medicine,science,engineering and programming.
Legal Asian immigration in general distorts American labor policy. Legal Asian immigration is incompatible with the development of Native Born White Youth for jobs that require high levels of skill.
Posted by Jupiter at 7:20 PM on April 29
Why shouldn’t they be ahead of the one’s who were born here (if this story is true) see they get to go to college over here FOR NOTHING….OUR WHITE YOUNG PEOPLE DO NOT…..THAT’S HOW IT WORKS….YA GOT IT NOW?
Posted by lydia at 7:47 PM on April 29
Just because the salesman comes knocking, doesn’t mean you have to buy anything. And the H-1B salesmen will plead, threaten, insult, bribe, deceive, whatever it takes in order to gain admittance to our home. And the green card, the foot in the door, is the only agenda at work. That, and the greed of their employers. The world is crumbling fast and the desperation to get a foot planted on lifeboat America is only going to intensify. Just say NO. Because what they are really selling, we can’t afford.
Posted by Edward at 8:00 PM on April 29
H1B is about lowering the cost of skilled labor; not acquiring talent that couldn’t be found in a US citizen. The law doesn’t even require a search for indiginous talent.
I got fired once to be replaced by an H1B. I got picked up right away within the same company. The Sri Lankan bozo who replaced me used to come to my desk all the time literally with tears in his eyes begging me to tell him how to do his job. I told him exactly how to do his job, but he simply did not have the basic aptitude nor talent to ever do the job. He was fired within six months and my previous boss who screwed me over to make lower his salary cap got fired too for failing to support the key applications that I wrote. Sucks to be them.
Posted by AvgDude at 8:22 PM on April 29
Asians? Indians, Chinese, Japanese? I have a hard time believing that Japanese, Koreans, and Chinese are that low level tech from my experience. Indians, middle eastern, and se asians yes, they imported mass low skill tech workers to undercut American labor. Fie on you, Bill Gates.
Posted by at 8:39 PM on April 29
The best and the brightest argument openly violates the H1B visa laws. Supposedly, you can only hire an H1B if you can’t find an American to fill the position AND it is forbidden to pay less than the position normally would.
Since the law is routinely ignored, often as part of flagrant racism (whole businesses in white areas hiring only others of a specific, non-white race), the entire H1B system should be canceled. Employers will not obey the law so their access to this employee pool needs to go.
And it WILL happen. Politicians who refuse to cooperate will find their political careers over.
Posted by at 8:57 PM on April 29
This is why I keep telling people to ignore the IQ tests. The entire theory of IQ is faulty, and just because it explains why blacks do worse than whites doesn’t mean that it’s automatically the true scientific theory. All wacky theories like voodoo can correctly predict some things by luck.
Posted by at 9:14 PM on April 29
The writing is on the wall. People seem to think that Asians are more intelligent than Whites and have better math and science skills. This is erroneous. This is just another attempt to boost a non-white race OVER Whites. Look at China. Look at it for heaven’s sake.
They have NO RACE PROBLEM,IT’S JUST ONE RACE - THEM. Yet:
They have 1 and a quarter BILLION people.
They have the most polluted country on earth.
They eat dogs and cats.
They eat fetuses.
They’re emigrating HERE in larger and larger numbers. (This is the legal immigration time bomb)
They’ve never gone to the moon.
Their space program is pathetic compared to ours.
How can anyone in their right mind claim that they have a higher IQ?
Posted by Awakened at 9:42 PM on April 29
Also, Indians (from India) tend to inflate their intellectual and professional skills, and so do many Chinese (falsification and/or exagerration of academic credentials seems like a commonplace among the mainland Chinese immigrants).
But the main point is this.
It’s not just job qualifications that count while considering issuing work visas that leave possibility of parmanent residency and citizenship. It’s promise of loyalty to the U.S. of America that matters most. Unfortunately, many Indians and mainland Chinese have definitely poor record in this respect.
We need to learn from bad experience and stop admitting more of them without convinicing evidence that this will be the U.S. and not any other country that they will be loyal to once settled on our land.
Posted by A Reader at 10:31 PM on April 29
I don’t care if Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, or Mongolians are considered smarter than whites. That’s not the point, I’d be happy to exist in a world with some smart people not only low IQ hi breeding races. I like observing various sophisticated cultures but we need places for whites to call their homeland. Some Europeans said it’s ok for immigrants to come to US but not to Europe since it is the original white homeland. Do you really want a powerful nation like the US to be run by Asians? I think not! What we have, we must hold since we came here first before the asians. I’m for controlled minor immigration from non whites but not what we have today.
Posted by realist at 10:59 PM on April 29
The computer industry has been hoping they could lower overall wages by hiring non-white but this is going to hurt them in the long run.
Modern computers are a white invention. Others may learn the skills but computers are in the blood of whites.
If the computer industry wants to flourish, they better learn to pay for white computer skills.
Posted by sbuffalonative at 11:02 PM on April 29
We recently had an H1-B mill employee come in for an interview. She had no real useful knowledge. You quickly realized she knew NOTHING. She was coached to spew buzz words. She actually had a job before she came to us. I think it was a hospital - maybe even a county hospital doing something non-critical like testing a billing system.
They just hope to find an IT manager who is really dumb and impressed by buzz words and somebody who looks confident while throwing them around incoherently.
The problem with Chinese programmers is NEVER EVER look at their code or documentation. The software may seem to work but it is usually spaghetti code utilizing brute force and their documentation would be better if written in pig-latin. They do manage to impress stupid managers because they get it done within schedule and most managers are too stupid to recognize quality software.
Posted by Mark in LA at 12:39 AM on April 30
I am tired of East Indians boring me to death about how smart they are and how the USA (and Europe) will crumble without their ‘talents’. They made ridiculous claims that Microsoft and NASA is filled to the brim with Indians. They claim that Whites are a stupid, dying race whose women are all sluts.
That is funny because I have never seen any of the famed Indian Institute of Technology teams winning any global programming contests.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACM_International_Collegiate_Programming_Contest
http://icpc.baylor.edu/past/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Olympiad_in_Informatics
If you observe the ACM results, you will see that lately Eastern European Universities have taken the lead over American and Western European Universities lately. I wonder if it is due to the fact that the Westerners are busy hiring the ‘talent’ form India while the Easterners are sticking to their own.
Posted by Jasper at 3:51 AM on April 30
As long as thousands of American IT professionals remain unemployed importing more of these job thieves is an act of treason by the congress and their corporate masters. These wretches should all be placed against a wall and sent to join their departed ancestors. How much longer will we continue to act paralyzed in the face of this political treason and corporate treachery? The Oath of Office taken by all politicians and members of the military includes “defending the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic”. It is not against the law for the American public to take the lives of our enemies, be they foreign or domestic and it is high time we began exercising that right before our nation perishes right before our eyes…
Posted by at 5:10 PM on April 30
Not to mention the fact that many of these H-1Bs, as mentioned earlier, show no loyalty to the USA, let alone respect for its laws protecting intellectual property, so they sell proprietary information gleaned on the job back to their home countries. I also would not be surprised if quite a few H-1Bs turned out to be involved in industrial espionage.
As I’ve said before elsewhere, and will say again here, cheap labor…isn’t.
Posted by BAW at 5:30 PM on April 30
“All wacky theories like voodoo can correctly predict some things by luck.”
Posted by at 9:14 PM on April 29
Voodoo is not a theory, but a religion. Religion relies on faith in its tenents, or claims, and relys on this alone. Theory refers to a critical forensic process that proposes an explanation by postulating a theory. It then seeks through scientific methodology to either confirm or disprove that theory. A law is a theory that has withstood repeated testing - such as the law of attraction or the laws of thermodynamics. Further, a belief is usually based on dogma that refuses to be alterred where even well accepted theories are subject to modification through new discoveries or methods for investigation.
Posted by Whiteplight at 5:33 PM on April 30
I think a great number of us understand what the people who the “industry lobbyists” represent are really up to. It is literally High Treason. Among many different groups the Council on Foreign Relations specializes in it. How about that immigrant lawyers association. High Treason is very literally a common practice in Western Society nowadays.
Posted by ChiefofClanFearghus at 5:36 PM on April 30
The super rich in this country are absolutely despicable. They are doing everything they can to transfer wealth from the middle class into their pockets by importing cheap labor. The greedy bastards are not concerned by CEO’s making 500 times the income of the lowest paid employee.
Posted by Stan at 5:42 PM on April 30
Jasper, it is probably due to the fact that Eastern Europe was somewhat backward and didn’t have the available computing power to solve problems by brute force. They are better at analyzing the underlying math and physics principles of the problem because they were forced to.
Posted by Mark in LA at 9:07 PM on April 30
“Voodoo is not a theory…”
That’s not important, I don’t know much about voodoo anyways. I was talking about them sticking needles into the dolls, and if the guy happens to be injured by accident at the same time, they can claim that their theory is verified. And then they ignore the rest of the cases where it didn’t work.
My point was that just because IQ tests had some accurate predictions, doesn’t mean that they are the absolute scientific truth. As we see in the current situation, IQ scores no longer explain what we see. It’s more practical to actually do good in life than use some theoretical tests to declare superiority.
Posted by at 10:25 PM on April 30
Mark in LA is close, but Eastern Europeans also play more chess than we do. I’m OK at it, but prefer Nephetafl (sp?) Vikings spread it around a fair bit. Anyway, a chess game is a complex system with no random elements, and requires an interesting mind. The guys in county jails were easy to beat, but chess was very different in the feds. With some of those guys, I had to sucker them in and lock the queen up, and then just stay one move ahead.
My best friend of 27 years and I once played chess. He won, but I had him on the ropes for a long time. He’s very, very good, and has known me most of my life, but said I was “frightening and alien” in my play. After our game, he needed a cigarette. I just had coffee, and he said that we had about as much in common as a bird has with a bat.
Analysis of mathematical relationships is important in chess, so of course eastern Europeans would be good at this.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 6:32 PM on May 1
This reminds me of the James Fenimore Cooper series on Hawkeye, the white man raised by the Delaware Indian tribe. Over two centuries ago the books openly discussed genetic differences between peoples. But he uses the term “gifts”.
Posted by at 1:18 AM on May 2