Comments on: Waging battle on foreign labor

Concerns that H-1B visas are being used to hire cheap workers who threaten U.S. jobs and wages renew opposition to the program.

[immujan]

Changing Tide

There's far too much that's already been said and written to describe the controversy surrounding H-1B issuances. A few things not to forget generally about where the US economy and academia for that matter stands today is that a lot of it was built with the assistance of foreign immigrants. Smart minds moving to the US to study, work and then become an integral part of what makes the United States a great place to be.

What happens today is really different - In an economy with strong trends and inclinations towards offshoring / outsourcing coupled with the limited H-1B cap, I'm seeing a lot of smart people coming out of our MITs, Stanfords and Harvards going back to India or wherever may be to start their their own companies to compete directly against the US. As a matter of fact a group of young lads who were top of their class at their respective Ivy schools working at my company later left the US to start their own offshoring company.

The bottom line - the H-1B is definitely a double edged sword - do you keep the best and the brightest in the country at the expense of US jobs or do you eject them (sometimes ones educated at our own institutions) for them to compete against the US economy and still hurt our employment statistics?

Not True

Your statement is unfounded. Check this link below: http://www.murthy.com/news/n_masnum.html
The interesting thing is: 35% of the H1-Bs reserved for U.S. advanced degree holders (20,000 total) were left unused even for FY2005; but the general H1-B category (60,000 total) has been filled up already for FY2006! This is a clear evidence that the H1-B program has been used to import cheap labors much more than to keep the talent here in U.S.

[immujan]

Changing Tide

There's far too much that's already been said and written to describe the controversy surrounding H-1B issuances. A few things not to forget generally about where the US economy and academia for that matter stands today is that a lot of it was built with the assistance of foreign immigrants. Smart minds moving to the US to study, work and then become an integral part of what makes the United States a great place to be.

What happens today is really different - In an economy with strong trends and inclinations towards offshoring / outsourcing coupled with the limited H-1B cap, I'm seeing a lot of smart people coming out of our MITs, Stanfords and Harvards going back to India or wherever may be to start their their own companies to compete directly against the US. As a matter of fact a group of young lads who were top of their class at their respective Ivy schools working at my company later left the US to start their own offshoring company.

The bottom line - the H-1B is definitely a double edged sword - do you keep the best and the brightest in the country at the expense of US jobs or do you eject them (sometimes ones educated at our own institutions) for them to compete against the US economy and still hurt our employment statistics?

Not True

Your statement is unfounded. Check this link below: http://www.murthy.com/news/n_masnum.html
The interesting thing is: 35% of the H1-Bs reserved for U.S. advanced degree holders (20,000 total) were left unused even for FY2005; but the general H1-B category (60,000 total) has been filled up already for FY2006! This is a clear evidence that the H1-B program has been used to import cheap labors much more than to keep the talent here in U.S.

Foreign Labor Good!

There are more than one way to look at this. I choose the following.
Imagine a kids that grows up in the worse conditions your can imagine. The parents are DIRT POOR. Works her ass off with very little help, just to get into HIGHSCHOOL. She make the grades and gets into college. She goes through college with tremendous acumen and talent. She is resourceful, tireless, and engaging. SHe got picked by one of the world's top technical firms and she goes to work.
Now imagine she is from South Africa.
We all have had our plights. We have all had to have a certain amount of luck to achieve the great things we are able to do daily. We ALL live in a global village, that shares not only information, but intertwines policy and economics as well. We are tied together as no other point in history. We have different laws, differnt pay rates, and different cultures. We are peaceful, and the funny part is that according this article we are mostly GEEKS!
H1B visas are just the beginning. We, as Americans, are finally learning what happens when we raise the majority of our population to be entertainment loving couch potatos. We love our sports, new cars, and plentiful food. We don't like to work our ***** off, we don't like political discourse, and we don't like books.
The problem is that a shift occuring, the service economy that we helped build here, shifting away from manufacturing to service based jobs is dependent on the very things we are beginning to noticably lag behind in.
So when an economy needs things where does it go? It trades/makes deals/adjusts itself to a temporary balancing point, and then it will do it again. That's what we are doing with the H1B visas. The answer isn't to stop the program, albeit it has holes(but show me a government run program that doesn't), the answer is much more complicated than a simple post to CNET will ever touch.
We need to understand that if we can't fill the wholes left by our lifestyle than someone else is really going to be happy doing it.

[CompEng]

Partially true

This is partially true. The problem is that between changing rules, subsidies, and participation, the global economy is not really stable, balanced, or fair. I don't think you understand the devastation that can result when huge changes occur (like 2 Billion hard-working folks, educated in science but not sociology, hard-working, are thrown into a global economy).
Every single company wants a piece of that, and the effect is like a tidal wave that sweeps capital investment from one country to another, bringing a flood of prosperity (with an undercurrent of hope-driven exploitation) to be followed by an urban desert when the tide moves on. Smart countries erect ***** to manage the flow and protect the infrastructure of the land. The U.S. is not one of them, because we have given ourselves over to the global corporations.

Foreign Labor Good!

There are more than one way to look at this. I choose the following.
Imagine a kids that grows up in the worse conditions your can imagine. The parents are DIRT POOR. Works her ass off with very little help, just to get into HIGHSCHOOL. She make the grades and gets into college. She goes through college with tremendous acumen and talent. She is resourceful, tireless, and engaging. SHe got picked by one of the world's top technical firms and she goes to work.
Now imagine she is from South Africa.
We all have had our plights. We have all had to have a certain amount of luck to achieve the great things we are able to do daily. We ALL live in a global village, that shares not only information, but intertwines policy and economics as well. We are tied together as no other point in history. We have different laws, differnt pay rates, and different cultures. We are peaceful, and the funny part is that according this article we are mostly GEEKS!
H1B visas are just the beginning. We, as Americans, are finally learning what happens when we raise the majority of our population to be entertainment loving couch potatos. We love our sports, new cars, and plentiful food. We don't like to work our ***** off, we don't like political discourse, and we don't like books.
The problem is that a shift occuring, the service economy that we helped build here, shifting away from manufacturing to service based jobs is dependent on the very things we are beginning to noticably lag behind in.
So when an economy needs things where does it go? It trades/makes deals/adjusts itself to a temporary balancing point, and then it will do it again. That's what we are doing with the H1B visas. The answer isn't to stop the program, albeit it has holes(but show me a government run program that doesn't), the answer is much more complicated than a simple post to CNET will ever touch.
We need to understand that if we can't fill the wholes left by our lifestyle than someone else is really going to be happy doing it.

[CompEng]

Partially true

This is partially true. The problem is that between changing rules, subsidies, and participation, the global economy is not really stable, balanced, or fair. I don't think you understand the devastation that can result when huge changes occur (like 2 Billion hard-working folks, educated in science but not sociology, hard-working, are thrown into a global economy).
Every single company wants a piece of that, and the effect is like a tidal wave that sweeps capital investment from one country to another, bringing a flood of prosperity (with an undercurrent of hope-driven exploitation) to be followed by an urban desert when the tide moves on. Smart countries erect ***** to manage the flow and protect the infrastructure of the land. The U.S. is not one of them, because we have given ourselves over to the global corporations.

[joelam888]

This boring topic again? ZzzzZzz

The program has been around for 15 years and people keep complaining. There's a funny fact that no one seemed to complain during the dotcom boom when every college dropout got 100K writing HTML.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Boring? Hardly...

"The program has been around for 15 years and people keep complaining. There's a funny fact that no one seemed to complain during the dotcom boom when every college dropout got 100K writing HTML."

During the "dotcom boom" PERHAPS the H1B program made some sense. Personally, I don't think so because even then lower paid labor was replacing skilled American workers. Can't blame the companies, they're only trying to save a buck. Blame Bill Clinton and Washington for caving to business special interest groups. Bush has been little better.

It's a travesty, and when you're living in an America that's no longer a tech superpower, you'll have only yourselves to blame...

[joelam888]

This boring topic again? ZzzzZzz

The program has been around for 15 years and people keep complaining. There's a funny fact that no one seemed to complain during the dotcom boom when every college dropout got 100K writing HTML.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Boring? Hardly...

"The program has been around for 15 years and people keep complaining. There's a funny fact that no one seemed to complain during the dotcom boom when every college dropout got 100K writing HTML."

During the "dotcom boom" PERHAPS the H1B program made some sense. Personally, I don't think so because even then lower paid labor was replacing skilled American workers. Can't blame the companies, they're only trying to save a buck. Blame Bill Clinton and Washington for caving to business special interest groups. Bush has been little better.

It's a travesty, and when you're living in an America that's no longer a tech superpower, you'll have only yourselves to blame...

Very intersting

If only we could get congress to listen to the working people, in stead of big corp. then we mightt still have jobs here in the USofA, and not been ship of shore under the NAFTA/ CAFTA/DR. it these FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS that are hurting to working class. Fire more people and the CEO' and board get a big pay raise!!

[JoeF2]

And what does that have to do with H1?

If you dislike NAFTA, etc. then you should love the H1 program, because that keeps the jobs in the US...

Very intersting

If only we could get congress to listen to the working people, in stead of big corp. then we mightt still have jobs here in the USofA, and not been ship of shore under the NAFTA/ CAFTA/DR. it these FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS that are hurting to working class. Fire more people and the CEO' and board get a big pay raise!!

[JoeF2]

And what does that have to do with H1?

If you dislike NAFTA, etc. then you should love the H1 program, because that keeps the jobs in the US...

[inachu]

If you think the labor is so good then let them have your job!

Let them take every job skill you have away from you so nobody hires you but only them then lets see how you complain.

Oh but let me guess you a stay at home mom of a multimillionaire who sells the soul of america to the lowest bidder...

[rcgroups1]

Re-If you think the labor

Have you thought about the same thing we did to the people in other countries by selling our coke/pepsi etc...

[inachu]

If you think the labor is so good then let them have your job!

Let them take every job skill you have away from you so nobody hires you but only them then lets see how you complain.

Oh but let me guess you a stay at home mom of a multimillionaire who sells the soul of america to the lowest bidder...

[rcgroups1]

Re-If you think the labor

Have you thought about the same thing we did to the people in other countries by selling our coke/pepsi etc...

America Loses

I've worked with several very good H1-B engineers. I have noticed that they are almost all underpaid until they have their green card or go back home. They seem universaly disgusted by the companies that sponsor them, and pay them below market because they can't leave (or have to start the green card over).
There was a time during the boom when I thought the trade off of losing lower tiered american jobs for highly dedicated and capable foreign labor was a net win for the economy, if a little unfair. Now what I see is an ailing tech economy where good young people can't get good paying jobs, and those we've trained are leaving, I don't.
Instead of hiring young people out of college, executives hire H1-Bs and train them, becuase they're lower cost, get minimal raises, and are captive to the company. What the H1-Bs have learned is to outsource the executives. I've now seen two firms where the china/indian contractors and H1-Bs collaborated to put their old company and bosses out of business.
The H1-B and outsourcing that is going on now no-longer serves the interests of America as a whole. It is decimating the careers of our younger workers, training our competitors, and only for a short time serves the interests even of the executive staff.

[joelam888]

Job monopoly is bad

If you think H1B workers are bad, then you must support Microsoft's monopoly 'cause you don't encourage competitions.

America Loses

I've worked with several very good H1-B engineers. I have noticed that they are almost all underpaid until they have their green card or go back home. They seem universaly disgusted by the companies that sponsor them, and pay them below market because they can't leave (or have to start the green card over).
There was a time during the boom when I thought the trade off of losing lower tiered american jobs for highly dedicated and capable foreign labor was a net win for the economy, if a little unfair. Now what I see is an ailing tech economy where good young people can't get good paying jobs, and those we've trained are leaving, I don't.
Instead of hiring young people out of college, executives hire H1-Bs and train them, becuase they're lower cost, get minimal raises, and are captive to the company. What the H1-Bs have learned is to outsource the executives. I've now seen two firms where the china/indian contractors and H1-Bs collaborated to put their old company and bosses out of business.
The H1-B and outsourcing that is going on now no-longer serves the interests of America as a whole. It is decimating the careers of our younger workers, training our competitors, and only for a short time serves the interests even of the executive staff.

[joelam888]

Job monopoly is bad

If you think H1B workers are bad, then you must support Microsoft's monopoly 'cause you don't encourage competitions.

[gdmellott]

Its our economic system- is too primative to function validly.

Those using the priciple of competition to the extreme to play one against the other, "war", like this arrangement. They can benefit by the way it a mass pulls its individuals down, one by one. There needs to be a balancing factor that is tied to reality's real potential.

After worrying myself about it for many years, I came to the conclusion that there needs to be a system that at least clearly points to the two basic types of potential that make thing work. That is, the basic resources as one, and the ability to modify them to make something more useful as the other. To do that one may potentially use two types of money, or record keeping. To make it simple, I'll call them here resource money and cultivation money.

Resources cannot work in a negative sense very well, if at all. Yet the ability to grasp future potential can let the cultivation endeavor do so as it tries to generate the desired benefit. The primary thing that such a sytem needs to remain stable is a system of assessing to determine the actual benefit generated and to assure the funds are in system for it to function in the positive as that occurs.

With the natural leaning of man to feel there is a foundation of fairness underlaying it all (ie: "all men are created equal"), the natural goal would be to determine why the resources are not equally distributed in their potential application. Nothing work good in this world, there are all kinds of details that get involved in making thing work; yet it is a natural and healthy goal to focus on. And it may lead to much more wisdom on what all it takes to have things work properly that sustain us. Also, it would lean people to reflect longer about having more people in this world, as the resource per person ratio would only drop. It should make it quit obvious to all, that such behavior only makes each of us poorer. It also stops the thinking (that is clearly unreal these days) that one can find security from the rest of the world's woes by collecting alot of resources around them (generally at everyones elses costs).

In such a system, there is less need to lean on major industry to push an economy forward. Anyone generating a benefit for another, or possibly even themselves, could be noted as generating benefit in the system. Getting the culture money into the system for the activities may be a bit of a challenge, in our present view, yet it may be as simple as a type of grant for desired activities.

Those running major companies now, could end up helping people manage their resources properly, in all the forms that is required to do that as healthy as possible, for the sake of ourselves and our posterity. And so a new type of competition begins that is based on a more realitic foundation. In any case, money ideally is just a sytem to help us determine what is actually working, and how well. To make it something that by itself generates oppressive states is self-defeating.

Sincerely,

Gregory D. MELLOTT

[CompEng]

Interesting... but very vague and abstract

What you say sounds interesting, but you speak in such vague generalities that I find it difficult to understand what you mean.

[gdmellott]

Its our economic system- is too primative to function validly.

Those using the priciple of competition to the extreme to play one against the other, "war", like this arrangement. They can benefit by the way it a mass pulls its individuals down, one by one. There needs to be a balancing factor that is tied to reality's real potential.

After worrying myself about it for many years, I came to the conclusion that there needs to be a system that at least clearly points to the two basic types of potential that make thing work. That is, the basic resources as one, and the ability to modify them to make something more useful as the other. To do that one may potentially use two types of money, or record keeping. To make it simple, I'll call them here resource money and cultivation money.

Resources cannot work in a negative sense very well, if at all. Yet the ability to grasp future potential can let the cultivation endeavor do so as it tries to generate the desired benefit. The primary thing that such a sytem needs to remain stable is a system of assessing to determine the actual benefit generated and to assure the funds are in system for it to function in the positive as that occurs.

With the natural leaning of man to feel there is a foundation of fairness underlaying it all (ie: "all men are created equal"), the natural goal would be to determine why the resources are not equally distributed in their potential application. Nothing work good in this world, there are all kinds of details that get involved in making thing work; yet it is a natural and healthy goal to focus on. And it may lead to much more wisdom on what all it takes to have things work properly that sustain us. Also, it would lean people to reflect longer about having more people in this world, as the resource per person ratio would only drop. It should make it quit obvious to all, that such behavior only makes each of us poorer. It also stops the thinking (that is clearly unreal these days) that one can find security from the rest of the world's woes by collecting alot of resources around them (generally at everyones elses costs).

In such a system, there is less need to lean on major industry to push an economy forward. Anyone generating a benefit for another, or possibly even themselves, could be noted as generating benefit in the system. Getting the culture money into the system for the activities may be a bit of a challenge, in our present view, yet it may be as simple as a type of grant for desired activities.

Those running major companies now, could end up helping people manage their resources properly, in all the forms that is required to do that as healthy as possible, for the sake of ourselves and our posterity. And so a new type of competition begins that is based on a more realitic foundation. In any case, money ideally is just a sytem to help us determine what is actually working, and how well. To make it something that by itself generates oppressive states is self-defeating.

Sincerely,

Gregory D. MELLOTT

[CompEng]

Interesting... but very vague and abstract

What you say sounds interesting, but you speak in such vague generalities that I find it difficult to understand what you mean.

[Goose]

Bad for us and US

couple of applications in my company were developed by H-1B
workers (Indians and Russians) as well as outsourced to India.
The next thing, our servers started crashing.
Someone left the back door and then connected to a server
installing some apps that in turn connected to some outside
servers. After that, server's files were damaged forcing us to
restore the system. Luckily I was able to figure out what has
happened and corrected all problems.
I have also noticed some connection attempts to our databases
from... Russia.
I think the biggest issue with hiring non-citizens and
outsourceing is security.
How can we entrust all our personal data to those people?

[techtype]

Not only programming!!!!

There was a recent story about a processing company were Indian processors were keeping certain people records (such as credit, names, address' and such) to sell or in the case credit cards, to use. Now this is the type of off shoring that I want to see. Yeah, so now because I do not know where my records are at physically, I have to worry how they are being viewed and by whom and how that company is going to use them.

[Goose]

Bad for us and US

couple of applications in my company were developed by H-1B
workers (Indians and Russians) as well as outsourced to India.
The next thing, our servers started crashing.
Someone left the back door and then connected to a server
installing some apps that in turn connected to some outside
servers. After that, server's files were damaged forcing us to
restore the system. Luckily I was able to figure out what has
happened and corrected all problems.
I have also noticed some connection attempts to our databases
from... Russia.
I think the biggest issue with hiring non-citizens and
outsourceing is security.
How can we entrust all our personal data to those people?

[techtype]

Not only programming!!!!

There was a recent story about a processing company were Indian processors were keeping certain people records (such as credit, names, address' and such) to sell or in the case credit cards, to use. Now this is the type of off shoring that I want to see. Yeah, so now because I do not know where my records are at physically, I have to worry how they are being viewed and by whom and how that company is going to use them.

Microsoft, Oracle, Nokia, Amazon,.... they all do it

In my case, I worked for Nokia here in Dallas, TX, where approximately 95% of the engineering positions where held by Indians (and I?m talking about several dozens of engineers). The few non-Indian engineers (like me) were offered low salaries for an American, but indeed a way better pay than the one our Indian co-workers were being offered at that time.

What I was told while working for Nokia is that Indians are preferred over Americans because the decision makers during the hiring process are indeed Indians with management positions, and this is not an hypothesis, many of my managers (all of them Indians) told me that they needed to cut expenses, and that was a very effective way to do it. If you don't believe me, ask how many H1-b visas these years Nokia had been requested to the INS and how many out of them are for Indians, you would be appalled!

And the list of American companies that follow such practices goes on and on. It's a shame that American-based companies prefer to employ qualified low-payable foreigners than unemployed equally qualified nationals.

H1B Software Engineer

This is really an interesting subject. I am a techie who is on H1B. I graduated from a reputed american university, worked my ass off during my college to get my degree and internships.

Did well in my interviews to get job with a high tech heavyweight with 75K salary out of college. Do you see me being exploited? I don't think so...

Would you want me to go back home to India with technical knowledge and experience that I gained during my college (I was doing research in distributed systems), start/join a high tech company there, develop some ground breaking product/technology and compete with US and make hell lot of money? I guess ur answer would still be yes...

I know many of my H1B brethrens are being exploited but I would not generalize this to the entire category. I think I have some niche skills and knowledge that will help me contribute in a small way to keep this country a technology leader. Last I checked US is still referred to as "Land of Oppurtunity".

I would see H1B program as way for US to prevent brain drain from its own universities and maintain its competitive edge.

[joelam888]

Qualified but better?

If the nationals are better, I think it's flat out dumb if you say those employers prefer cheaper labors instead.

Companies like Microsoft pay 80K for an entry level software engineer and 100K for a senior one. So, H1B workers are low payable foreigners? LOL...

Microsoft, Oracle, Nokia, Amazon,.... they all do it

In my case, I worked for Nokia here in Dallas, TX, where approximately 95% of the engineering positions where held by Indians (and I?m talking about several dozens of engineers). The few non-Indian engineers (like me) were offered low salaries for an American, but indeed a way better pay than the one our Indian co-workers were being offered at that time.

What I was told while working for Nokia is that Indians are preferred over Americans because the decision makers during the hiring process are indeed Indians with management positions, and this is not an hypothesis, many of my managers (all of them Indians) told me that they needed to cut expenses, and that was a very effective way to do it. If you don't believe me, ask how many H1-b visas these years Nokia had been requested to the INS and how many out of them are for Indians, you would be appalled!

And the list of American companies that follow such practices goes on and on. It's a shame that American-based companies prefer to employ qualified low-payable foreigners than unemployed equally qualified nationals.

H1B Software Engineer

This is really an interesting subject. I am a techie who is on H1B. I graduated from a reputed american university, worked my ass off during my college to get my degree and internships.

Did well in my interviews to get job with a high tech heavyweight with 75K salary out of college. Do you see me being exploited? I don't think so...

Would you want me to go back home to India with technical knowledge and experience that I gained during my college (I was doing research in distributed systems), start/join a high tech company there, develop some ground breaking product/technology and compete with US and make hell lot of money? I guess ur answer would still be yes...

I know many of my H1B brethrens are being exploited but I would not generalize this to the entire category. I think I have some niche skills and knowledge that will help me contribute in a small way to keep this country a technology leader. Last I checked US is still referred to as "Land of Oppurtunity".

I would see H1B program as way for US to prevent brain drain from its own universities and maintain its competitive edge.

[joelam888]

Qualified but better?

If the nationals are better, I think it's flat out dumb if you say those employers prefer cheaper labors instead.

Companies like Microsoft pay 80K for an entry level software engineer and 100K for a senior one. So, H1B workers are low payable foreigners? LOL...

[cyberspittle]

"IT"s all about making a profit.

What many opnions forget to mention is that managers and their companies are in the business of making a profit for their stock holders. I prefer to H1-Bs, as they are quiet and don't make a lot of noise about BS issues like fairness and equality in the workplace. They put in longer hours and days. They make a decent living as they can share living expenses with other H1-B room mates. It's not my fault that an American worker has a family to support. When we hire them, we didn't hire their family or their bills. American workers can take note, and relocate their family to India, or stay single. Enough noise aboutr H1-B employees. They are great workers on the front lines making U.S. companies profitable (and in business). Did everyone forget the dot-com bust.

[CompEng]

Beware the Myth

I think it's an insidious myth that foreign-born folks are smarter or work harder. I've seen plenty of example of that... but I've seen plenty of counter-examples too. And as for being quiet and non complaining about fairness... or anything else, just wait until your project fails because you taught your employees not to speak up. I've seen more instances than I can count of smart, hard-working people executing very diligently down the wrong path until they eventually failed while the "lazy" employee next door spent a lot less effort doing the right thing, and succeeded.
I agree it is not the point of the employer to solve all an employee's personal problems. And I agree there are advantages to the employer of ihring the quiet guy that has 4 roommates and no family. But don't think that guy will owe you loyalty if you don't treat him well, and don't think he will pay you what he doesn't owe.
From what I see, the advantages and disadvantages of hiring outside the country are fairly balanced. But if you hire to the *exclusion* of local talent you will have your head handed to you when the winds change. And rightfuly so.
And if you have no loyalty to your community, and are not concerned with taking care of your neighbors, you will always find that you don't like where you live. And that is also as it should be.

[cyberspittle]

"IT"s all about making a profit.

What many opnions forget to mention is that managers and their companies are in the business of making a profit for their stock holders. I prefer to H1-Bs, as they are quiet and don't make a lot of noise about BS issues like fairness and equality in the workplace. They put in longer hours and days. They make a decent living as they can share living expenses with other H1-B room mates. It's not my fault that an American worker has a family to support. When we hire them, we didn't hire their family or their bills. American workers can take note, and relocate their family to India, or stay single. Enough noise aboutr H1-B employees. They are great workers on the front lines making U.S. companies profitable (and in business). Did everyone forget the dot-com bust.

[CompEng]

Beware the Myth

I think it's an insidious myth that foreign-born folks are smarter or work harder. I've seen plenty of example of that... but I've seen plenty of counter-examples too. And as for being quiet and non complaining about fairness... or anything else, just wait until your project fails because you taught your employees not to speak up. I've seen more instances than I can count of smart, hard-working people executing very diligently down the wrong path until they eventually failed while the "lazy" employee next door spent a lot less effort doing the right thing, and succeeded.
I agree it is not the point of the employer to solve all an employee's personal problems. And I agree there are advantages to the employer of ihring the quiet guy that has 4 roommates and no family. But don't think that guy will owe you loyalty if you don't treat him well, and don't think he will pay you what he doesn't owe.
From what I see, the advantages and disadvantages of hiring outside the country are fairly balanced. But if you hire to the *exclusion* of local talent you will have your head handed to you when the winds change. And rightfuly so.
And if you have no loyalty to your community, and are not concerned with taking care of your neighbors, you will always find that you don't like where you live. And that is also as it should be.