David Foote, chief analyst and research officer at Foote Partners, a firm that that focuses on what it describes as “the people (versus vendor) side of managing technology,” said that what is being suggested in the notice is it is “an attempt to be fairer, but salary is not a proxy for skill level. It never has been. Right now, a senior cybersecurity analyst in San Jose, that job is averaging almost $180,000 a year. That job in Grand Rapids, Michigan is about $108,000 a year.”
Biggest challenge? How to make it work
He said that within the current system, “the largest numbers of H-1B visas are in California, Texas, and Virginia. Why? Well, because in California there are a lot of tech companies, Texas, a lot of tech companies, and in Virginia, because you’ve got this whole area around Washington DC, which is just full of tech hires. It’s very easy to see that it’ll continue to benefit those areas.”
Aside from the proposed changes “definitely being a disadvantage for startups and nonprofits and academia because there’s a lot of hiring in those areas,” Foote said, the proposal from the DHS “also adds complexity, and I think litigation risk as well.”
