BestOfLemmy
Manual curation of great Lemmy discussions and threads
I don't think that's correct. H1B workers can change jobs, but they need an H1B from the new employer. Making H1Bs easier to get would make changing jobs easier for them.
In other words, right now companies prefer hiring US residents because sponsoring H1Bs is a pain. However, they know that if they do hire an H1B worker, that worker will have a harder time finding a new job than an American worker would so they don't need to treat him as well. If H1Bs were easier to get, things would get better for the H1B workers because they would have less of a disadvantage when looking for a new job. At the extreme, if getting an H1B were effortless, H1B workers would achieve parity with US residents.
Having more H1B visas doesnt help the worker. Most of them are snapped up by giant consulting companies, and that likely wouldn't change much. Adding a million more is just the status quo, but worse for Americans.
What would make H1B better would be giving visa holders 6 - 12 months to find a new job instead of 2. That would give them way more leverage to quit bad employers, drastically reducing abuse and low wages.
Somehow i doubt the billionaire class is looking to improve employee treatment and pay, though.
If you see how musk treats employees, I doubt making things better for workers is front and center of policy. And if it should happen to be a side effect, I'm sure it will be removed from legislation. Plenty of example countries where employers will hold on to your passport for you.
Easier H1-Bs don’t even help the migrant worker - if you leave a job, you not only need to get another sponsor or be deported, you have a very limited time to do it. If the visas were easier to get, there would be more, driving down salaries, but they would still be slaves at the mercy of their employers