Charles Schwab & Company brought its headquarters to Westlake, but did it bring jobs and prevailing wages to Texans?
Eight H-1B applications for Senior Software Developer roles recorded in the H-1B Salary Database show that foreign workers were set to be paid at or below what job board websites such as ZipRecruiter say is the prevailing industry wage for Texas. The recorded pay for these jobs at Charles Schwab ranges from about $80,000-$110,000, while ZipRecruiter reports that top earners in the same field across Texas make $156,000 and the 25th percentile typically pulls in $101,00 annually.
“The Immigration and Nationality Act requires that the hiring of a foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers comparably employed. To comply with the law, the U.S. Department of Labor’s regulations require that the wages offered to a foreign worker must be the prevailing wage rate for the occupational classification in the area of employment. The prevailing wage rate is the average wage paid to similarly employed workers in a specific occupation in the area of intended employment,” the New York Department of Labor says, explaining the federal law on its website.
The federal Department of Labor (DOL) has an online tool for determining the prevailing wage in an area. The tool has no search results for “senior software developer.”
However, the search results for “software developer” in Tarrant County give a little context. The tool breaks down the prevailing wage into four roughly $20,000 income brackets ranging from $80,000-$140,000.
Presumably, the implication with the word “senior” would indicate that a senior software developer would not be paid toward the bottom of the lowest, entry-level bracket.
Moreover, if the labor market is so tight that importing foreign labor is necessary, it is unclear why these roles are paid below what the DOL’s tool says is the mean wage for H-2B senior software developers: $120,515.
H-2B is a visa program that is similar to H-1B. The difference between the two programs is that the H-2B worker’s “employment must be of a temporary nature for a limited period of time such as a one-time occurrence, seasonal need, peakload need or intermittent need,” DOL’s website states.
Oddly, DOL’s tool said it had “no data” for Travis County (Austin) where some of these positions are said to be located.
The H-1B Salary Database also reveals that Charles Schwab has filed several hundred H-1B applications for a wide variety of roles ranging from Senior Software Developer to Associate Scrum Master, in recent years.
Similarly, two Associate Scrum Master applications in Austin in the H-1B Salary Database showed reported salaries of about $60,000 and $75,000, while ZipRecruiter showed that top earners usually made nearly $150,000 while the bottom 25th percentile made around $96,000.
The job board showed salaries ranging from $62,000 to 73,000 as less than one percent of all associate scrum master positions.
The federal Department of Labor’s online prevailing wage tool had no results for the search term “associate scrum master” or “scrum master.”
Approximately 450 H-1B workers were employed by Charles Schwab & Company, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) H-1B Employer Data Hub in 2024. The Dallas Express calculated the number of Schwab’s H-1B workers by adding together the results for “Charles Schwab & Company” and “Charles Schwab And Company” since an error in the system made them populate as separate organizations.
The investment firm moved its headquarters to Westlake from San Francisco in 2021 and claims to employ 6,000 people in DFW.
China and India are the greatest recipients of H-1B visas. 72% of H-1B visas were issued to Indian nationals while 12% went to Chinese nationals, the latest available USCIS data reveals.
“The H-1B program allows employers in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty, or its equivalent,” the USCIS website says.
The Department of Labor indicates that the intent of the H-1B program is to aid employers who cannot find native-born American workers with certain specialized skill sets.
“The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States,” the government agency wrote.
Around 85,000 H-1B visas are issued annually and last for 6 years of employment.
It is unclear what made the importation of labor for these tech-related jobs necessary. The Lone Star State is home to a variety of collegiate IT programs, including the Department of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin and counterpart programs at Texas A&M, the University of Texas at Dallas, and the University of Houston.
Texas also boasts a developed tech sector in Austin.
H-1B visas are one of several company-sponsored visas that can allow a foreign worker and their entire family to enter the United States.
The family of H-1B workers, defined as children and spouses, are eligible for H-4 visas, allowing them to follow an H-1B employee stateside. Dependent spouses on H-4 visas can apply with USCIS for employment authorization, and, once approved, they too can work in Texas.
Many social services are open to H-4 visa holders. H-4 visa children can attend public schools in every state. In some cases, H-4 holders may also qualify for other services such as unemployment benefits, the law firm Reddy Neuman Brown PC’s legal blog states.
This revelation comes amid a national debate about the continuation of the visa program in the next presidential administration. Proponents of the program say that it is necessary to supplement alleged deficits in America’s native-born workforce while opponents argue that it is wrought with fraud and abuse, The Dallas Express reported.
Other Texas-based employers have been reported by DX as using H-1B labor: Fort Worth-based American Airlines employs hundreds of H-1B workers, while almost 10% of Tesla’s Texas workforce is H-1B labor.
Charles Schwab & Company was contacted in the production of this story but did not issue a response in time for publication.