Six in 10 H-1B positions may be paying below the local median wage

Critics of the H-1B programme often say it is used to source cheap labour from outside the US. New research has once again brought these claims to the fore.

Six in 10 H-1B positions that are certified by the US department of labor (DoL) are assigned below the median of the local wage for the occupation, according to a paper published on May 4 by Washington DC-based think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

In 2019, of the four levels of wages determined by DoL, the two lowest fell well below the local median wage, EPI found. For computer-related occupations, which are among the most common H-1B users, wages were between 17% and 34% lower than the local median.

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