It’s another week, another wave of layoffs, and once again the same question bubbles to the surface: who or what is really responsible?

For many American software engineers, the H-1B visa program has become an easy target. A symbol of job insecurity. A quiet, persistent threat.

But after 25 years in the industry, I’ve come to believe something more uncomfortable:

The problem isn’t the people. It’s the system.

A Lottery That Doesn’t Measure Talent

On paper, the H-1B program is elegant. It exists to fill genuine skill gaps bringing in top tier talent when local supply falls short.

In practice, it behaves more like a lottery than a filter for excellence.

Over the years, I’ve worked with H-1B engineers across the entire spectrum from world-class problem solvers to individuals who struggled with the basics. The variation wasn’t subtle. It was staggering.

That alone should raise a red flag.

If a program is designed to select top talent, outcomes shouldn’t feel random.

When the System Incentivizes Deception

I once led a project that required a specific technical skillset. We brought in a contractor through a staffing firm, it was an impeccable resume, flawless interview.

Within weeks, it became clear something was wrong.

No progress. No deliverables. Just delays wrapped in vague explanations.

When pressed, the truth unraveled: the candidate didn’t have the skills listed. Not even close.

This wasn’t just an individual failure. It was a structural one.

A system that relies on proxies: resumes, outsourced interviews, middlemen, it creates fertile ground for misrepresentation. Not because everyone is dishonest, but because the incentives reward those who bend the truth just enough to get through the gate.

The Other Side: Quiet Exploitation

But the darker reality isn’t fraud. It’s exploitation.

I’ve worked with engineers who were brilliant, people operating far above their official titles, carrying projects, solving impossible problems under impossible timelines.

And yet, they were underpaid. Overworked. Trapped.

Why?

Because their ability to stay in the country depended on their employer.

That dependency changes everything.

It turns negotiation into submission. It turns opportunity into leverage. It creates a class of workers who can’t easily say “no” and that dynamic doesn’t just harm them.

It quietly resets expectations for everyone else.

The Downward Pressure No One Talks About

Here’s the part people feel but rarely articulate:

When companies have access to workers who can be paid less, pushed harder, and retained through immigration dependency, the entire labor market shifts.

Not overnight. Not explicitly.

But steadily.

Standards change. Expectations rise. Compensation softens.

And suddenly, what used to be “unreasonable” becomes normal.

A System That Benefits the Wrong Players

If you zoom out, the pattern becomes clear.

The biggest winners aren’t engineers, American or H-1B.

They’re the intermediaries. The staffing firms gaming the system. The corporations optimizing for cost and control. The actors who understand the loopholes and exploit them.

Meanwhile:

* Talented foreign engineers are constrained and exploited

* Domestic engineers face increased pressure and competition

* And the integrity of the hiring process erodes

So How Do We Fix It?

There’s no silver bullet, but there are better incentives.

1. Raise the Wage FloorIf companies were required to pay H-1B workers at the top of the market range, the calculus would change instantly.No more cost arbitrage. No more incentive to undercut.

2. Audit AggressivelyNot symbolic enforcement but real oversight.Target high-volume sponsors. Investigate patterns. Penalize abuse.

3. Replace the LotteryA random draw makes no sense for a high-skill program.Prioritize roles with real shortages and high wages. Let demand, not chance, drive allocation.

4. Fast-Track Proven TalentFor truly exceptional engineers, remove the dependency trap.Grant mobility. Grant permanence. Let them compete freely.

Because when talent is free, markets function better.

The Hard Truth

It’s tempting to frame this as a conflict between American and foreign engineers.

It isn’t.

The real divide is between people doing the work and the systems that extract value from them.

The best engineers I’ve worked with, regardless of where they came from, wanted the same things: to build, to grow, to be treated fairly.

Right now, the system makes that harder than it should be.

Final Thought

If we want a stronger, more resilient tech industry, we need to stop asking who to blame and start asking what to fix.

Because until the incentives change, the outcomes won’t.

And we’ll keep repeating the same cycle just with different names attached to it.

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