No, Silicon Valley Does Not Hire Foreign Workers to Save Money. In my experience, it costs significantly more.

I’m not going to claim that it never happens that international workers are paid lower than domestic workers. However, it’s still true that it’s a candidate’s market, and candidates have a HUGE pool of jobs to choose from.

In other words, qualified international candidates have nearly identical job prospects in the United States as any other candidate in the United States, meaning that if one employer tried to pay well below market rates, that candidate could simply apply to any other of the ~100k JS job openings in the United States and have a good chance of being paid a fair wage.

In my extensive experience working with candidates from outside the US, I can say at least anecdotally, international candidates are treated fairly, and provided essentially the same wages and benefits as domestic candidates.

And as somebody who has led many international talent searches, I can tell you with absolute certainty that every time I have done so, I was motivated by filling the position as fast as we possibly could — and when we filled them, if anything, we actually gave special allowances to the candidate in order to help with the relocation, provide security and expedite the visa process.

I’m extremely skeptical that anybody in the tech industry is actually saving money by bringing foreign workers into the United States. It sounds completely absurd to me — and I can’t imagine anybody who has actually participated in the process would look at it as a cost savings mechanism.

Time savings, yes. Opportunity cost savings, yes, but actual money cost? I don’t believe it.