A big shot employment attorney in California called me last night re: H1B visa fraud / trafficking of workers. Here’s what she said:
The market is cornered by visa body shops who apply for ~50% of the visas.
The economics of it: These body shops are headed by former hiring managers from Big Tech companies. They bring people to America, rent apartments for them, and house about 10 together in one apartment.
They put these recipients through a ~4 week bootcamp of basic tech training, fraudulently rewrite their resumes, teach them how to interview.
The body shops land them jobs, primarily at the companies these hiring managers came from, and pay the workers less than half of the money in hand.
Ex. Job is listed as a $200k salary, but the company is contracted with the body shop *not* the H1B worker, and the worker is actually paid closer to $40 an hour.
The body shops pocket most of the money and are making millions by essentially trafficking people.
The abuse and fraud must end!