

Fact or fiction: Is there a shortage of IT workers and programmers in the U.S.? - ilamont
http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/6482

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geebee
Mr. Aron keeps saying "so get out of IT and do something else".

That's the problem - the H1B visa is constructed to create a class of people
who _can't_ get out of IT and do something else. The terms of the visa even
make it challenging to stay in IT and merely start working for a different
large corporation.

I want to make it very clear that I am 100% behind the notion of silicon
valley as a desination for entrepreneurs from all over the world. That said,
I'm pretty disgusted with a visa that allows Oracle to control an employee's
right to reside in the US, or the employee's application for a green card.

I think the H1B visa is the visa that says "we'll let you into the US to
_work_ for Oracle, but we won't let you into the US to _compete_ with Oracle.

Paul G wrote about this in an essay about "how to be silicon valley". If
another country created a better worker visa - one that respected the need for
personal and economic freedom, it could gain a real competitive advantage over
silicon valley. America's idiotic skilled worker program is probably SV's
achilles heel.

I read an article about how some H1B holders are getting so frustrated with
the green card wait that they have started looking to other countries to start
businesses - I think it was in businessweek (sorry I can't give a link). I
don't think this is enough to knock SV out of the top spot, but it is a place
where a competing city in another country could score some points.

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jimbokun
I think the elephant in the living room ignored in this debate is:

Median wages in the U.S. are falling. Full stop.

Mr. Aron keeps saying "so get out of IT and do something else". But except for
a small and shrinking number of people, wages have been stagnant for the last
7 years. There are a handful of people soaking up all of the growth in our
economy.

So there's a good chance that even if you do pick something besides IT, you
don't have a very good future ahead of you in the United States. Unless you
are already rich, in which case the future prospects of getting even richer
look very bright.

I think startups are a good solution to this problem (not just software, but
taking advantage of the ease of incorporating, marketing, communicating,
outsourcing etc. enabled by technology). But I am concerned about how well it
scales. In startups, the best competitor in a market can take almost all of
the growth and profits for itself and leave little for everyone else. Are
there enough startup niches out there to provide a living for everyone in a
country with 300 million people?

Otherwise, look for more peasants with torches and pitchforks demanding a more
socialist/communist economic model.

(ps Yes, this is all my observations from my perspective living in the U.S.
but I am curious if people in other developed countries face similar issues
and how they are dealing with it.)

