H-1B - Here we go again

I'm a Canadian, we don't have a specific program but we do have visas and work permits based on skilled labor (including US citizens).

But to my understanding, H1-B was never intended to be a long term program, it was to address a gap during the dot com boom. A gap that should have been eliminated by some means.

Give colleges and universities incentives to teach the skills we lack in the market place, then eliminate the H1Bs.

James

since it has been proven that many of the jobs go this route just so they can get away with paying lower wages, not because of any shortage of qualified workers.

H1-B's are the domestic outsourcing of jobs.

I see part of the problem as a perception of honesty on the part of the companies requesting the H1-Bs.

ARE they truly in need of those H1-B positions or are they looking for lower cost solutions?

ARE the people that apply for the H1-B positions as capable as they sound or are they telling little fibs about their qualifications?

I suspect that there are indeed companies that need H1-Bs to fill positions and there are exceptionally well qualified H1-B applicants that fill them.

At the same time, all it takes is ONE example of a company shopping for lower cost labor to make people suspicious of the H1-B program. The same applies to unqualified applicants.

If YOU saw an example of H1-B cheating, corporate or personal, and you were an unemployed IT person with the proper qualifications, you might not consider eliminating the H1-B program to be employment protectionism.

Socialist programs like the H-1B always have the same effect. By artificially lowering the cost of a commodity(in this case labor) it discourages production and leads to shortages.