Microsoft Hires H1B Visas During Massive Layoffs -- Big Tech Hates Americans

I've lived in Silicon Valley since 1997. I bought a house in 2010 - and I got laid off during that same year. This was during the Great Recession and it took me two years to find another job. During my two year job search I was constantly annoyed by the rhetoric that we had a shortage of engineers. If that were true then I would have a job immediately. The so called shortage was only to lobby for more H1B visa workers.

A few days ago I was contacted by an Indian recruiter offering a contract position with Microsoft. Fully remote and subcontracted via their 3rd party firm. The pay offered was 86-92k, which is not even close to a MS salary in the US. The irony is, I got a LinkedIn message just as I was reading about MS layoffs.

Seriously, if Trump is all about America and Americans first then he should withhold the H1B permits from any tech companies that have furloughed their American employees.

Well, this has been going on for the past 20 years!

Big Tech companies accelerate wealth inequality.

The tech industry is pure slop nowadays

You can't compete with low H-1B wages. I am seeing postings for C# with 5 years of experience offered slightly over $20 per hour. You can't live on that low income where the job is located. Demand change. Warn Republican politicians that this abuse is no longer acceptable.

I've been consulting for nearly all of my multi-decade career, even did some time in Redmond on campus. Plenty of very technical, leadership, and cat herding skills, but thankfully I can take a break and watch the sh!tshow. Getting a load of recruiters calling in the last couple weeks, its wild how idiotic companies are these days. Reminds me of the Dot Com bust.

I was contacted by many Indian staffing companies and they asked me to sign the "exclusive represent" agreement which basically saying I can't apply by myself or use other recruiting companies to look for jobs in this client. The ironic part of it is once I sign the agreements, they will disappear. They will not setup interviews for me. Finally I figured out they were just using this trick to eliminate me from the competition with their real employee (because I can't apply the same positions per agreement). What a trap!

Many entry-level IT and data analytics jobs are now offshored, effectively shutting out opportunities for fresh graduates in the U.S., who often end up in debt or taking any job just to survive. Once offshore employees—particularly from South Asia—gain experience, they can come to the U.S. directly on H-1B visas through big tech companies like Microsoft. It’s a straightforward and easy path for them. Surprisingly, the media rarely discusses this issue. It’s disappointing that the current administration has doubled the H-1B visa cap. I wish Bernie were 10 years younger—at least he believes the ultra-rich should pay their fair share in taxes and oppose H1b.