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37 Nw. J. Int'l L. & Bus. 275 (2016-2017)
Giving the Market a Microphone: Solutions to the Ongoing Discplacement of U.S. Workers through the H1B Visa Program

handle is hein.journals/nwjilb37 and id is 283 raw text is: Copyright 2017 by Sam Trimbach Printed in the U.S.A. Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business Vol. 37, No. 2 Giving the Market a Microphone: Solutions to the Ongoing Displacement of U.S. Workers Through the H1B Visa Program Sam Trimbach* Abstract: In recent years, the HIB visa program has been mired in controversy. Some have pointed out the way the program is used to aid in outsourcing. Others have suggested that employers pay HIB workers less than their U.S. counterparts, effectively allowing employers to import cheaper foreign labor. In fact, these can go hand-in-hand. The less an employer has to pay an H1B worker, the less ex- pensive it is to use the program to outsource jobs. In addition to these problems, this Note identifles one more: while the current structure of the program helps employers bridge a labor gap when there aren't enough qualified U.S. workers in afield, it simultaneously perpetuates that labor gap so that U.S. workers do not enter the field and employers must continue hiring through the HIB program. This Note argues that labor gaps are perpetuated because the program only re- quires employers to pay HIB employees what an average U.S. employee in a sim- ilar position makes. By filling these jobs at the same salary, the labor gap is bridged, but there is no increase in salaries. This means that U.S. workers have no incentive to move into the field and fill the labor gap. Without new U.S. work- ers moving into the field, a gap remains, and employers continue to use the HIB program. The HIB program has two aims: to allow US. employers to bridge a labor gap while ensuring that jobs aren't permanently shifted from U.S. workers to foreign workers. By perpetuating the labor gap, the program only satisfies the first aim while thwarting the second; jobs are permanently shified, only the jobs are in the geographical United States. As such, this Note argues that the HIB program should be revised so that em- ployers have to pay more for H1B employees than for U.S. employees. The in- tended effect would be that U.S. workers would see salaries increase in the field and more would begin to train to enter the field. This means the labor gap would be filled by U.S. workers over time, allowing the program to satisfy both of its objectives. Increasing HIB salaries would also make it more expensive to use the program to outsource, potentially curbing some outsourcing abuse of the pro- gram. 275 . J.D., Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, 2017; B.A., University of Chicago, 2011. Many thanks to my wonderful wife for supporting me through law school and the process of writing and editing this Note. Additionally, I greatly appreciate all the work the JILB editors put into revising this Note. All errors are my own.

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