- Surprises from 5 years of actual H1B data.
- Who uses the H1B program most aggressively — Indian tech companies based in USA, who are importing Indian tech workers en masse.
- Here’s the full H1B thread with replies, for twitter users.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1873174358535110953
Pertinent comment:
Summary
Here’s the brutal reality exposed by these charts:
the H1-B visa system is being dominated by outsourcing firms and exploited to suppress wages, flood routine job categories, and hurt middle-class opportunities. Let’s break it down.
Chart 1: Average Wage Rate by Job Title What Stands Out:
•Most of the salaries hover between $70,000 and $90,000 for job roles like computer programmers, software developers, and systems analysts.
•These are mid-level wages, not the six-figure salaries you’d expect for “specialized talent.”
•Outsourcing firms like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Cognizant dominate the lower end of the wage spectrum.
•Only a few companies pay higher salaries (above $120,000+), which means the bulk of H1-B jobs are designed to save money, not attract world-class talent.
What It Means:
•Employers are gaming the system to hire cheaper labor.
•The focus isn’t on innovation—it’s on finding workers who will work for less, which puts downward pressure on U.S. wages.
•Specialized talent? Forget it—this is about filling routine jobs at the lowest cost possible.
Chart 2: Certified Applications by Job Category What Stands Out:
•The top category by far is “Computer Systems Analysts,” followed by software developers, programmers, and IT project managers.
•These are routine tech roles, not rare or specialized positions that require unique skills.
•Outsourcing giants like Tata, Infosys, and Wipro dominate these categories, flooding the system with H1-B applications.
What It Means:
•The H1-B program isn’t being used to fill gaps in innovation or cutting-edge technology—it’s being exploited for low-level, repetitive IT tasks.
•These roles could easily be filled by qualified U.S. workers, but companies prefer to hire H1-B workers at lower wages, cutting out American talent.
Chart 3: Certified Applications by Salary Band What Stands Out:
•A significant chunk of H1-B applications fall in the $75,000–$100,000 salary range, with fewer applications in the $100,000–$150,000 range and almost none above $200,000.
•Only 5.43% of H1-B jobs in FY 2024 are paying salaries above $200,000.
What It Means:
•The H1-B program isn’t attracting “top-tier, high-paying talent” as it was intended to—it’s being dominated by low- to mid-range salary positions.
•Companies are using H1-B to undercut U.S. workers in roles that should pay far more, especially in high-cost areas like Silicon Valley or NYC.
•The lack of high-paying roles shows this isn’t about hiring innovators—it’s about saving money at the expense of both American and immigrant workers.
Chart 4: Total Certified Applications Over Time What Stands Out:
•The number of certified H1-B applications has skyrocketed from 562,359 in FY 2020 to 868,450 in FY 2024, despite the annual cap being 85,000 visas.
What It Means:
•Companies are filing massive numbers of applications to flood the system and increase their chances of approval. Outsourcing firms in particular file tens of thousands of applications, crowding out legitimate, specialized talent.
•The program is overwhelmed and abused, with a large portion of these jobs going to companies exploiting the system for profit.
The Big Picture: What This Data Says
1.The H1-B System Is Not About Innovation.
•The program is dominated by routine IT jobs that don’t require rare skills or expertise.
•These roles are deliberately underpaid compared to what U.S. workers would earn for the same jobs.
2.Outsourcing Firms Are Flooding the System.
•Companies like Tata, Infosys, Wipro, and Cognizant are exploiting the system by filing tens of thousands of H1-B applications.
•They prioritize cheap, replaceable labor over actual talent, crowding out smaller businesses and startups that genuinely need visas for specialized workers.
3.Wages Are Stagnant or Suppressed.
•The bulk of salaries fall in the $70,000–$100,000 range, far below what skilled workers should earn in tech.
•U.S. workers are being displaced by cheaper labor, while immigrant workers are exploited and underpaid.
4.Corporate Greed Is Driving This.
•The entire system is being hijacked to maximize corporate profits while eroding wages and job opportunities for the middle class.
•The lack of transparency and enforcement allows companies to continue abusing the program without consequence.
Solutions: What Needs to Happen
1.Ban Outsourcing Firms from Dominating H1-B Applications.
•Limit the number of H1-B applications any one company can submit. Outsourcing giants shouldn’t monopolize the system.
2.Enforce Wage Floors That Match True Market Rates.
•Require H1-B salaries to be at least 30–50% above the local market rate to ensure they’re not undercutting U.S. workers.
3.Restrict H1-B Use to Specialized, High-Impact Roles.
•Eliminate eligibility for routine job categories like “Computer Systems Analyst.” Reserve visas for true innovators and hard-to-fill roles.
4.Increase Oversight and Transparency.
•Companies abusing the system—filing excessive applications or underpaying workers—should face fines, bans, and public exposure.
Final Takeaway
The H1-B program has become a tool for wage suppression and corporate exploitation, not a pathway for innovation. Companies like Tata, Infosys, and Cognizant are gaming the system to profit off cheap labor, while American workers lose out on jobs and wages.
If the program isn’t reformed, the middle class will continue to shrink, wages will stagnate, and the U.S. economy will become even more dominated by corporate greed. It’s time to stop the abuse.
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45.4K Views
Working in the Gas and Oil industry for 35 yrs, I experienced being laid off and replaced by foreign workers from India and the Philippines several times! We would work with them and train them, then we would be let go and they would keep the foreigners! How unpatriotic was that? Six months later they would be hiring again, they would bring us back to clean up the mess these folks created! Communication with these people was terrible, they would nod their heads, but not understand a thing! So much for cheap labor! This kind of thing happened a lot starting in the late 90’s.