Companies stand to save billions of dollars a year by hiring cheaper guest workers.

The whole point of the H-1B visa to address a deficit of skilled Americans, so framing the debate around shortages makes perfect sense. Not only is there no evidence of a shortage, but hundreds of thousands of surplus guest workers compete for a limited supply of jobs.

Can you name a single market where excess supply over a 30-year horizon would be considered healthy? The labor market is no exception. Just take a look at what’s happening in computer occupations, where most H-1Bs end up. Wage growth has flat-lined. And a study with access to companies’ actual wage records, using confidential Treasury Department data, found H-1Bs have an “insignificant” effect on patenting, lead to lower average employee wages and raise corporate profits. Research that relies on questionable evidence and methods, or conflates immigration and guest-worker policy, often only serves the interests of tech-industry employers.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/do-h-1b-visas-help-or-hurt-american-workers-1.1484198