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H-1b Workers Are Better Paid, More Educated, Study Finds


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H-1B Visa stamp

Credit: Chicago Immigration Attorney Blog

H-1B workers are better educated, earn more money, and are an average 10 years younger than U.S.-born workers, according to a Public Policy Institute of California study. The study found that the average annual earnings of H-1B workers are about 10 percent higher than the average annual earnings of U.S. workers, after adjustments for age, occupation, and education. The study also found that less than 25 percent of U.S.-born technology workers have graduate degrees while close to one half of the H-1B workers have advanced degrees.

Although the study's findings undercut some criticisms of the H-1B program, they also add support to the argument that the H-1B program helps employers save money by favoring younger workers over older ones. "This research quite strongly points toward a highly educated group of workers, and there is really no evidence in our data that points to lower earnings," says Public Policy Institute of California economist Magnus Lofstrom. However, he notes that the age discrimination issue "remains a very important question that remains unanswered."

The researchers based their study on data obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and the U.S. Census Bureau.

From Computerworld
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Abstracts Copyright © 2012 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA


Comments


Anonymous

There are thousands of highly trained CS graduate who are unemployed and can't find a job. The H-1B program is nothing more than a scham to import cheap labor at the expense of American CS engineers. Shame on ACM for even post this highly one-sided study!


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