Tech Worker Shortage Doesn't Really Exist

[finehoe]

The real issue is the industry's desire for lower-wage, more-exploitable guest workers, not a lack of available American staff. "It seems pretty clear that the industry just wants lower-cost labor," Dean Baker, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, wrote in an e-mail. A 2011 review by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the H-1B visa program, which is what industry groups are lobbying to expand, had "fragmented and restricted" oversight that weakened its ostensible labor standards. "Many in the tech industry are using it for cheaper, indentured labor," says Rochester Institute of Technology public policy associate professor Ron Hira, an EPI research associate and co-author of the book Outsourcing America.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-11-24/the-tech-worker-shortage-doesnt-really-exist

[spuwho]

Good article Finehoe,

I read this yesterday and agree with it 100%.

I could write a book as big as one of Ock's books on how this has been an issue for the past 15 years. It seems people are just beginning get a collective knowledge this silliness occurs.

The fact the author backs up his assertions with data supports the case even more.

[Gunnar]

Got the same "shortage" over here in Europe (they more generally call it a skilled worker shortage).

Funny enough, you'd expect salaries to increase (giving that demand is supposedly > supply) but no, not happening.

So I  agree, it seems to be more of a low wage skilled worker shortage.

[mbwright]

I agree.  The intent is to either offshore tech work to India or elsewhere, or use H1B to import labor.  The goal is to reduce labor costs, so the US workers are no longer needed.   There is no proof needed to support 'there aren't any qualified US workers, so we have to import/offshore labor' and use H1-B labor.  With this, there is no incentive for American to get degrees, or enter the tech fields as their used to be.

[Buforddawg]

There never was a shortage, especially when the high paid tech workers were replaced with the much cheaper H1B1 Visa workers.  Now big business has created a new dilemma, their remaining knowledge base has started retiring.  Which means they will be at the mercy of the very companies they brought in to save costs.  Hopefully, this will translate into some nice contract programming work once I retire. Work 6 months off 6 months.  I could live with that.

[Edward]

Any employer would like to have equally-skilled workers for less money, no shocker there. Supply and demand drives the price of labor and in NEFL tech workers are at a premium. I know two tech company owners that struggle with hiring talented labor. And they pay well - $80-$100k is a common wage. Both recruit internationally and often hire from outside of NEFL area. Area schools are adding programs to help fill the need, but for the time being, qualified tech workers are in demand, and in Jax area, there is definitely a shortage. As "tech" infiltrates every aspect of our lives, tech-related workers will remain in demand.

[finehoe]

Supply and demand drives the price of labor and in NEFL tech workers are at a premium. I know two tech company owners that struggle with hiring talented labor. And they pay well - $80-$100k is a common wage.

Pay more. 

Problem solved.

[Edward]

And - tell your kids to become "techies". The high-wage jobs of the present and future.

[carpnter]

Supply and demand drives the price of labor and in NEFL tech workers are at a premium. I know two tech company owners that struggle with hiring talented labor. And they pay well - $80-$100k is a common wage.

Pay more. 

Problem solved.

If it were only that simple.  There simply aren't enough people in the workforce. 

[spuwho]

Per Computerworld:

New Congress may move swiftly to raise H-1B cap

When the Republicans take control of Congress in January, they may act, with bipartisan support, to raise the H-1B cap.

It's going to be sticky because the Republicans will be working on parallel paths. They will be taking President Barack Obama to task over his executive actions on immigration reform, as they pull together votes for a separate, standalone bill on the H-1B visa, according to several Capitol Hill sources who spoke only on background.

The groundwork for a bipartisan bill is in place. The top legislative candidate is the I-Squared Act, which was introduced in the Senate by two Republicans and two Democrats, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.). The bill had 26 co-sponsors.

The I-Squared bill, first introduced in the Senate in 2013, did not advance because of the Senate's focus on comprehensive immigration reform. That bill is now seen as the leading legislative candidate in 2015 for raising the H-1B cap.

The Senate's Democratic leadership has traditionally opposed standalone H-1B bills because they didn't want to risk losing tech industry support for comprehensive immigration reform.

Just before the November election, Hatch, who become president pro tempore, the second most powerful position in the Senate, outlined the incoming Senate leadership's "innovation agenda." These are "priorities" that he plans to "help advance early in the next Congress." It includes support for the I-Squared bill.

The initial iteration of I-Squared called for raising the base H-1B cap from 65,000 to 115,000; another 20,000 H-1B visas are set aside for advanced degree graduates of U.S. schools. It also included mechanisms -- based on demand for the visa -- to allow the cap to rise to as much as 300,000.

There is no certainty that these efforts to raise the H-1B cap will succeed, and it's possible that acrimony with the White House over immigration will derail action on an H-1B-specific bill.

Another factor in the mix might be former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who may be about the closest thing to an announced candidate for the Republican presidential nomination that his party has right now. If Congress takes up any immigration issue, he may speak out.

Bush, who recently announced on Facebook that he has "decided to actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States," is a strong advocate for raising the H-1B cap, much like his brother, former President George W. Bush.

Gov. Bush detailed his position in a book he co-authored with Clint Bolick, an attorney, Immigration Wars (Simon & Schuster, 2013). He also sketched out his views as co-chair of the Council on Foreign Relations' task force on immigration policy.

Bush wrote that the 85,000 H-1B cap is "hopelessly inadequate to preserve America's leadership role in technology."

Any H-1B legislation must get through U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who will be heading the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley has been the leading critic of the H-1B visa and believes it is used to displace U.S. workers.

[finehoe]

If it were only that simple.  There simply aren't enough people in the workforce.

Bullshit.  It's funny how conservative stop believing in supply and demand when it comes to labor.

If employers raise the wages they're paying, the jobs will be filled.

[spuwho]

Alot of the pressure for H1B for higher education is driven by the US corporate use of graduate programs to fulfill basic research on the cheap.

Its not unusual to see corporates help pay scholarships for in demand engineering skills (chemical, mechanical or civil). So they press for more H1-B to import the engineering talent they seek.

Its no secret that there has been a reduced domestic interest in the engineering fields for the past 30 years. Most of the highly educated are going to either medical, financial or legal fields.

[carpnter]

If it were only that simple.  There simply aren't enough people in the workforce.

Bullshit.  It's funny how conservative stop believing in supply and demand when it comes to labor.

If employers raise the wages they're paying, the jobs will be filled.

By people leaving one position for another.  That means the company they left will need to find someone to fill that position.  Do you think that there will suddenly be qualified people to fill those positions if companies simply pay more?

It is funny to see people like you think that problems can be solved by simply throwing more money at them.  (See I can make ridiculous statements too)

[finehoe]

"There's no evidence of any way, shape, or form that there's a shortage in the conventional sense," says Hal Salzman, a professor of planning and public policy at Rutgers University. "They may not be able to find them at the price they want. But I'm not sure that qualifies as a shortage, any more than my not being able to find a half-priced TV."

[finehoe]

Do you think that there will suddenly be qualified people to fill those positions if companies simply pay more?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Purple+Squirrel