

There Is No Shortage of Tech Workers - lmg643
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100674327

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tenpoundhammer
I think this is the key point, "53 percent say they found better job
opportunities outside of IT occupations". I don't think tech employers are
willing to provide the pay, benefits,and working conditions necessary to
attract the workers they want.

Tech employers are also unwilling to invest in employees. It's hard to find a
decent entry level position right out of college. We can't expect college
graduates to be %100 ready on day one, they need on the job experience.

Too many good people are leaving for better paying industries,with better
benefits, and better work life balances.

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arindone
'There is no shortage of tech workers' != 'There is no shortage of GOOD tech
workers'

What has been bothering me about this study is that almost no effort has been
made to quantify or even investigate the quality of these workers. A community
college can pump out STEM folk by the bundle, but they're not the quality that
a school like MIT will produce -- the latter of which we desperately need and
the former of which are f __*ing worthless.

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thebooktocome
Read the actual study (linked in other comments). The whole first section is
on "high-performing students", and how the US' supply compares with other
countries.

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pm90
"There is no shortage of tech workers" says someone who has no experience or
need to hire tech workers.

The best way to gain perspective of demand and supply in the technology market
would have been for the author to request aggregate data from career sites
such as linkedIn/Glassdoor etc. Most of the data seems to be from NSF and
other Govt. statistical organizations. As others have pointed out, the fact
remains that an 'IT degree' is just a piece of paper, actual skills is what
counts.

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lmg643
I wonder how many folks working in startup-land have ever seen a H1B-farm
company operating in the US. I have seen qualified US candidates turned down
... because they were too expensive. Anyone looking for over $130k is too
expensive.

Instead, the company hires a string of H1B employees. The day they show up,
the company starts the green card process, and they basically work there for
years until it comes through. The average developer is ... average, but they
do a lot of GUI customization for users, so they don't need to be very good.

The company is trading a public good (right to work in the US) to an employee
in return for their willingness to work at a "below-market wage" for long
periods of time. I don't know how you can look at this arrangement as anything
but a disadvantage to US tech workers.

You could say that a company like this would eventually go out of business
given the lack of intensity behind the development of their products, but
there's something to be said for keeping your costs rock bottom as a long-term
strategy.

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pm90
Actual study:(linked in the article)

[http://www.epi.org/publication/bp359-guestworkers-high-
skill...](http://www.epi.org/publication/bp359-guestworkers-high-skill-labor-
market-analysis/)

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CmonNoReg
"For every two students that U.S. colleges graduate with STEM degrees, only
one is hired into a STEM job." As if everyone who graduates is actually
capable of doing the job. As if all the colleges are equal.

~~~
thebooktocome
May I draw your attention to figure E:

[http://www.epi.org/publication/bp359-guestworkers-high-
skill...](http://www.epi.org/publication/bp359-guestworkers-high-skill-labor-
market-analysis/)

Only a third of that half of US STEM graduates are not working in STEM because
they don't have jobs available to them.

That figure, and the comparison with engineering, better supports the
hypothesis that companies aren't willing to provide sufficient benefits.

