By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Politics Discussion - Should US companies be able to fire/layoff US citizens to hire a cheaper employee through H-1B visa ?

 

Should US tech companies be able to fire/layoff US citizens to hire cheaper employees?

Yes 10 31.25%
 
No 19 59.38%
 
Maybe 3 9.38%
 
Total:32
PortisheadBiscuit on 19 February 2019
Superman4 said:
Any company hiring via H1B should be required to pay that employee the going US rate plus any benefits that are required for US citizens. This should not be a way for companies to hire cheap labor and screw US employees in the process.

 

haxxiy said:

Absolutely not.

And legally speaking, most of Latin American/European countires (I can't speak for the others) have provisions that will keep one from being arbitrarily fired except for serious fault or dire economic need of the hiring company. That doesn't mean they are absolutelly forbidden to do so, just that it'll have consequences such as indemnities etc. to disencourage such practices.

Following with a shallow analysis here, but do consider that most countries with such labour laws have average and minimum wages higher (adjusted for their GDP PPP per capita) than places like the USA, the UAE or Singapore, where outsourcing etc. abound.

The time has come to move past the notion society exists to serve companies, and not the other way around.

Thank you for these two posts!

I'm actually surprised by some of the callous posts in this thread. Like American workers should be viewed as disposable trash, that is not what this country is supposed to stand for. 



StriderKiwi on 19 February 2019
Superman4 said:
Any company hiring via H1B should be required to pay that employee the going US rate plus any benefits that are required for US citizens. This should not be a way for companies to hire cheap labor and screw US employees in the process.

THIS.

The last few comments are spot on. The process needs to be fair to the US citizenry.



Dark_Lord_2008 on 20 February 2019

Companies sack experienced workers and bring in cheaper inexperienced workers. It is common for experienced workers to be sacked and the next day cheaper inexperienced workers doing the same job. It is just Capitalism and nothing personal. I see nothing wrong with companies reducing costs in order to maximise its profits and generate return to share holders and pay bonuses to management that make the tough decisions.

The experienced workers can take a pay cut to keep their jobs, company to boost profit margins and company management get paid bonuses. It is just how Capitalism works and there is nothing anyone can do abut it.



konnichiwa on 20 February 2019

Technicall yes.

I agreed with Trump on one thing back in the day and it was his attack on Obama about the unemployment rate and how it basically is a tool for politicians and we should use participation rate instead (ofcourse he end up not using it himself).   The participation rate is still dramatically low, a lot of people don't believe in this job market anymore (if you worked 30 years and made some good money why would you go for a low payed job after your factory/business closed).

Honestly I am less worried about companies replacing someone because a shit ton more people are just getting fired at good payed job and give up after.  Example GM that fired/will fire 10k people and those 10K people probably end up with a job that pays less or give up honestly that's more troublesome.






MrWayne on 20 February 2019
Dark_Lord_2008 said:

Companies sack experienced workers and bring in cheaper inexperienced workers. It is common for experienced workers to be sacked and the next day cheaper inexperienced workers doing the same job. It is just Capitalism and nothing personal. I see nothing wrong with companies reducing costs in order to maximise its profits and generate return to share holders and pay bonuses to management that make the tough decisions.

The experienced workers can take a pay cut to keep their jobs, company to boost profit margins and company management get paid bonuses. It is just how Capitalism works and there is nothing anyone can do abut it.

But one can do something about it. In Germany for example the employer have to have solid reasons, beyond cheaper worker, to fire an employee and if an employee worked for a certain amount of years for a company they get a workplace security which means the company has to pay huge compensations if they want to fire this employee.

edit: strengthening the worker unions would also prohibit such behavior.



MrWayne on 20 February 2019
Pemalite said:
PortisheadBiscuit said:

So say you work for a company for 20 years, and they decide to replace you with a lower waged foreigner, you somehow didn't deserve the job you dedicated 20 years of your life doing?? Meanwhile you have a mortgage, kid's tuition, medical insurance etc? 

Absolutely correct. It's time for me to find a new job, there are lots around.

I am generally invaluable to my employer anyway, it will cost them more to hire someone and spend the next several years trying to up-skill them to my level... But if someone walked in with the same skillset and training but would work for less... Then good on them.

But many jobs exist where you can't become indispensable to your employer, no matter how hard you work. Even in a scenario where you have a company in which the lowest employee can become the CEO, the hirachical structure of a company means that you will allways have a bottom line of emplyees who are the most dispensable.
Not everyone can be CEO.