Recently, two perspectives on merit-based hirings were presented. Lydia Polgreen deplored the increasing attacks on the employment of Indian professionals who gained admissions to the U.S. on H1-B visas. Colin Wright claimed that U.S. firms have dramatically reduced the share of hires going to white men.
While Polgreen infers that H1-B holders are merit-based hires, this may not be the case. Though a modest share of hires does go to extremely skilled workers, many go to those who substitute for comparably-skilled U.S.-born workers. The New York Times reported that Disney replaced workers who, as part of their severance pay, had to train their H1-B replacements. Some H1-B workers are hired to fill less complicated jobs, like product testing, said Ronil Hira, an associate political science professor at Howard University. These roles don't require unique skills. She added:
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