🚨 The H-1B visa program isn’t what you think.
It’s not about a “talent shortage.”
It’s a labor control system hiding in plain sight.
With the help of @qaggnews, we analyzed 20 YEARS of USCIS data.
Here’s what they don’t want you to notice 🧵
👉 Up to 72% of visas are extensions
👉 Only ~28% are new workers
So it isn’t recruitment.
It’s more about worker retention and dependency.
If this were truly a “skills shortage” program…
You’d see mostly NEW hires.
Instead:
Companies bring workers in…
Then keep renewing them.
That’s not a free market.
That’s controlled labor.
Now it gets worse.
This is supposed to be a GLOBAL talent program.
But look at this:
👉 India = ~70–75% of ALL H-1Bs
👉 China = ~11–13%
👉 Everyone else = tiny share
That’s not “global competition.”
That’s a pipeline.
And pipelines don’t happen naturally.
They’re built by:
👉 Outsourcing firms
👉 Staffing companies
👉 Repeat hiring loops
This system is being fed, not discovered.
What jobs are these visas actually going to?
Not a broad mix of “specialty occupations.”
👉 Up to ~70% are computer-related roles
Now look at wages.
For years, salaries rose steadily…
Then suddenly:
👉 $118K in 2022
👉 $118K in 2023
👉 Barely $120K in 2024
In a REAL talent shortage…
Wages keep rising.
But here?
They hit a ceiling.
Why?
👉 Because supply is being stabilized.
This isn’t a free market.
It’s wage-controlled labor flow.
Here’s something most people miss:
👉 Approval rates are 85%–100%+ most years
If this were truly about elite, scarce talent…
Would it be this easy to get approved?
🚨 The biggest red flag isn’t what we see.
It’s what we can’t see anymore.
Based on the available data, in many cases, we can’t even verify:
▪️Skill level
▪️Degree qualifications
▪️Job legitimacy
And this is the program shaping our labor market?
This system:
▪️Retains workers instead of recruiting
▪️Concentrates hiring pipelines
▪️Dominates one industry
▪️Suppresses wage growth
▪️Becomes LESS transparent over time
Once companies build these pipelines…
They don’t stop.
They scale them.
👉 The system becomes self-reinforcing
The H-1B has evolved into a system that benefits:
👉 Large corporations
👉 Outsourcing firms
While everyone else is told:
“There’s just not enough talent.”
We haven’t even touched on all the H-1B fraud yet. There is so much to be found there.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.