domestic IT workers to meet employer needs if employers will broaden their recruiting to underrepresented groups (e.g., minorities and women), older workers, and those workers who with little retraining could obtain the necessary skills. They further assert that the use of H-1B workers undermines the status and bargaining position of U.S. workers for several reasons.

First, many critics argue that some of the requirements of the H-1B program are poorly enforced (e.g., those requiring the payment of prevailing wages to H-1B workers). In particular, critics note that by law, DOL may review the LCA only for accuracy and completeness; it may not initiate investigations unless a complaint is filed against the employer.²⁹ Because of DOL's limited authority, critics argue that it is relatively “easy” for employers to violate one or more of the program's requirements, creating the opportunity for significant financial incentive to employ H-1B workers.

Critics also argue that this financial incentive extends beyond the salary level. In particular, they argue that even if the foreign workers are paid the same salary as domestic workers, foreign workers may be more willing than domestic workers to work long hours, especially if they do not bring their families with them. Critics also point to impediments in the H-1B worker's mobility in the labor force—something they regard as an “indenture.” As noted above, an H-1B worker seeking permanent resident status (and these individuals are numerous) is reluctant to change employers because doing so is likely to invalidate all previous efforts and waiting time spent on processing his application for permanent residency. If the worker leaves the employer and has to begin the process all over again with a second employer, the process may not be finished before the worker is forced to leave the country at the expiration of his H-1B status.³⁰ (Box 5.6 illustrates a hypothetical scenario.) Further, some H-1B workers are subject to the payment of liquidated damages, which may be substantial enough to provide a disincentive for leaving one's original sponsoring employer. (Unfortunately, there are no data available on the extent to which H-1B visa holders change employers.) Because of these impediments to mobility, an employer may have greater latitude in its treatment of these individuals than it would have in dealing with domestic workers, and thus may well prefer to hire such individuals when there is a choice.