Nerd Quotas
By Jim Dallas
Continuing my riff on zero-sum games, I'd draw your attention to the controversy sparked when Bill Gates said that Congress should eliminate the cap on H1B visas. Currently, the number of high-tech workers from overseas is limited by this cap.
Do technology workers need protectionism?
The Commerce Department undersecretary for technology, Phil Bond, cautioned Gates during his talk that unemployment among U.S. computer engineers regularly exceeds unemployment in other industries. "The politics of that are real," Bond said. Government figures showed 5.7 percent of information technology employees were out of work last year versus 5.5 percent of all workers.
The debate over U.S. technology companies hiring more foreigners occurs in the wake of the 2001 terrorism crackdown on immigration and amid increasing concerns about the theft of U.S. corporate secrets. The Bush administration has set up a counterintelligence office and published a first-ever strategy for preventing espionage against U.S. companies and the government.
"We still have to focus on border security," Rep. David Dreier, R-California, told Gates at his talk. "We can't be so naive as to believe there is not a very serious border security problem with which we have to contend."
Some labor groups criticized Gates' remarks.
"It's increasingly difficult for U.S.-based programmers to find work," said Marcus Courtney, organizer of the Seattle-based Washington Alliance of Technology Workers. "There is no support in the American public for completely abolishing the H1-B visa program and allowing companies to import foreign labor for these high-paying jobs."
Indeed, the tech sector is feeling a bit squeezed as the long hangover from the go-go 90s continues. Still, it's painful to watch the train wreck that is the H1B debate; I think I stand for all if not most of my friends trying to make it as engineers right now when I say that it would be much nicer if there were more technology jobs.
Posted by Jim Dallas at May 6, 2005 05:04 AM
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The problem with the H1-B program is that is intended to allow access to essential skills, but is used to import workers at a lower wage, and depress wages in the field more generally.
My assessment is that more than 80% of the hiring is bogus.
It's either outright fraudulent, or it's "What, it will take him 6 weeks to come up to speed? Hire a W**, they are cheaper."
My solution is two fold:
* Raise the fee, I would suggest around $50K.
* Drop the limit.
In truth my solution is a bit more nuanced: You set a target number, and then adjust the fee until it meets that target.
In any case, having to pay $50K up front to make an application will dissuade employers who are simply looking for cheap labor, because it will no longer be cheap.
