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Re:Companies lay off thousands, then demand immigration refo... by malandrew on Wednesday September 11, 2013 @04:01PM (#6369622)
I'm wondering what would be the pros and cons of having an immigration bill that functions on a tit-for-tat basis like the following:

    Your company gets one H-1B visa for your company for each 
    unemployed American that you retrain and employ. The catch 
    is that the American you retrain and employ must be out of 
    work 6 months or longer. If an American worker you retrain 
    and employ doesn't work out, you can fire them, but only 
    after you have replaced them with another out-of-work 
    American.
Another interesting approach is to make companies inelligible for H-1B visas for a probationary period following any layoffs in excess of X number of employees or Y percent of your workforce. e.g. if you layoff 1000 employees or more than 5% of your workforce, you cannot receive any H-1B visas for 1 year following the termination of the last of the 1000 employees. The only exception I can see conceded here would be the divestiture of an entire business unit from soup to nuts (as opposed to a layoff comprised of a general workforce reduction across all business units)

The main thing I want to see fixed in the H-1B process is making it easier for H1-B holders to change jobs after about 1 year of employment with the original sponsor. Right now H-1B visas are like handcuffs that leave the H-1B holder in a position akin to that of an indentured servant.

Re:Companies lay off thousands, then demand immigration refo... by masklinn on Wednesday September 11, 2013 @04:20PM (#6369754)
> Right now H-1B visas are like handcuffs that leave the H-1B holder in a position akin to that of an indentured servant.

Which is why it'll never change, as the companies with clout sure as hell wouldn't want H-1B to be anything else.

Re:Companies lay off thousands, then demand immigration refo... by netc on Wednesday September 11, 2013 @05:53PM (#6370388)
There is so much misinformation flying around. Most H1B can change job in 3 months or so. Many do.
Re:Companies lay off thousands, then demand immigration refo... by rbanffy on Wednesday September 11, 2013 @06:35PM (#6370612)
IIRC, the second company must get another H1B for the worker.