H-1B visa program, which allows US employers to hire foreign professionals in specialised fields, is under scrutiny as debates about its impact on American workers intensify on social media.
Many US citizens, especially in fields like software engineering, are expressing concerns that the program puts them at a disadvantage in securing jobs.
One such voice comes from the wife of a US citizen and software professional, who shares the difficulties her husband has faced in finding work, despite his 30 years of experience.
She explained the over-reliance on H-1B visa holders in the tech industry has made it harder for qualified American workers to land jobs.
Her husband has spent over a year going through multiple interviews each week, only to face rejection, often due to the preference given to foreign workers under the H-1B program.
What is the H-1B visa programme?
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to hire foreign professionals with specialized knowledge, typically requiring at least a bachelor’s degree.
Sponsored by employers, the visa is initially valid for three years and can be extended, with visa holders also able to pursue permanent residency through its dual intent provision.
What does the tweet explain?
An experienced US software engineer’s wife opened up about her husband’s harrowing job search over the past year, exposing what she sees as a flawed hiring process that works against American workers.
The US-citizen software engineer has been waiting for a job offer despite going to several interviews each week, and his wife is complaining about what he sees as a “biased and faulty hiring process.”
She wrote on X, “My husband is a US citizen, software engineer with about 30 years of experience. He was unemployed for over a year. In that time he had multiple interviews every week, but no job offers. He was given “tests” that he didn’t “quite” pass.”
The tweet added, “He wrote code as part of the interview and then it was nitpicked because it wasn’t the way the interviewer would have done it. The process is a scam. HR and interviewers are gatekeepers. H1B visas need to be ended and only American citizens should be in charge of hiring decisions.”
‘These interviews are just useless’
Netizens posted their concerns and experience on the post. A user noted, “Yes, you are right, the interviews are just for show, they want to show that they are unable to find enough qualified people, get approved to bring more people from India. Ive known of cases where an American is fired, replaced by a less qualified person from India, people fired are in many cases still in touch with coworkers who can easily determine if the replacement is better qualified or not.”
They further added, “In many cases the IT manager and even the CEO are from india, now, how much money are those people getting from India or from the agencies that bring the workers? The entire thing is a big scam played at the expense of Americans.”
Another claimed, “Every US Citizen in tech should go to https://jobs.now and apply for every job in their specialty. Then, when no call backs or passed over, they should file a complaint with DOJ about that company excluding American workers. Start the avalanche now.”
A user stated, “If the recruiter or hiring manager is Indian there is zero chance for Americans. Zero chance.”
“I don’t want to offend but it’s probable your husband didn’t grow his talent stack over those 30 years and that’s why he was let go and also doesn’t have the skills to compete in the modern era of software engineering. Like I said, not to be cruel, but declaring that Americans on balance should be poorer because your husband made poor career choices doesn’t make you the good guy,” added another.
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