Indian-origin tech leader Apoorva Govind speaks out on H-1B issue

Indian-origin tech leader Apoorva Govind speaks out on H-1B issue.

Amid a renewed controversy over whether American jobs should be reserved for Americans and not skilled foreigners, Indian-origin tech leader Apoorva Govind presented a detailed analysis of the tech situation, breaking down which tech companies need what type of skills. Govind said she had been in tech for 15 years now and witnessed that a lot of Americans value living close to their family and friends. "They don't want to move to the coastal cities where all the tech jobs are concentrated. So sometimes the employers are left with no choice but to hire foreign nationals," Govind said, adding that it also means that more states need to create tech hubs like Pittsburgh, Raleigh, and Dallas/Austin have. Govind explained that there are three types of companies that hire techies. In the first type, there are companies like Apple and Google that offer many jobs, but one has to crack the interview and move to the city where they are based. H-1Bs are about 2-3% of the workforce in these companies and most of them have a Master's/ PhD from American universities. "These H1Bs command premium market-rate salaries. These are highly coveted, talented people who any country would be lucky to have," she said. The second category is startups and not many H-1Bs want to work with them because of the uncertainty and Americans do not apply. Govind said that when she was recruiting for Bestever AI, she wanted to hire Americans because the overhead to hire a foreign national was much but there were only a few applications from US-born applicants. "If startups are hiring H1Bs it's because there is no other option (It's 100% not the cheap option). The cheaper option is to hire remote," she said. About 60% of tech jobs fall in the third category which are tech jobs in non-tech companies -- tech jobs in banks, health care etc. "This 3rd category of jobs are also the ones that get contracted out to companies like Wipro/Infosys etc who then turn around and import software engineers from abroad (who they then underpay). THIS is the category that's rife with H1B abuse. The employees are not nearly as talented or risk-taking as the other categories. There is no reason why we import people from abroad for these roles. If the Trump admin wants to fix the H1B problem, they need to go to their bank, healthcare and retail CEOs and ask them to crack down, not their Silicon Valley CEOs," Govind argued. Apoorva Govind said the third category should be targeted as the first, two categories require highly technical people, unlike the third. "The recent post that spoke derisively about "flyover cities" is despicable and as an immigrant I found it to be disgustingly elitist. It doesn't help address the real problem which is abuse of H1 by certain employers while there is shortage of talent elsewhere," Govind said, referring to the controversy triggered by YC Partner Ankit Gupta. The H-1b visa and Silicon Valley are again at the center of a raging controversy after the administration revised the H-1B fee to around $103K and vice president JD Vance said Americans should be prioritized for American jobs. Silicon Valley leaders did not agree and they said skilled people should be hired notwithstanding their nationality. The issue became bigger with government officials taking note of Y Combinator partner Ankit Gupta defense of H-1B visa holders and his apparent derision towards Americans.