Peter St Onge Podcast Ep 135 Weekly Roundup: Fixing the H1-B Sweatshops
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Aug 25, 2025 This week dives into the exploitation of the H-1B visa program and its effects on American workers. The conversation shifts to the declining trust in universities and highlights the urgent need for revitalizing manufacturing in struggling areas. There's a critical look at the decreasing value of college degrees and a trend towards skills-based hiring. The podcast also unpacks the reliability of government employment and inflation statistics, revealing contradictions in job creation and economic policy as recession fears linger.
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H‑1B Became A Tech Sweatshop
- The H-1B program shifted from 'top talent' to large-scale low-wage coding sweatshops due to an unchanged $60k threshold.
- Adjusting for inflation or auctioning slots would restore it to attracting high-skilled immigrants.
Raise H‑1B Wage Floor Or Auction Slots
- Do raise the H-1B wage floor to inflation-adjusted levels to block low-wage replacement hiring.
- Or implement a reverse auction so the highest wages win slots for true top talent.
Men's Crisis Is Largely Economic
- Men face worsening economic and social outcomes tied to decades of job losses and cultural shifts.
- Solving this needs economic revival for blue-collar jobs plus cultural healing, not slogans alone.