| (Recycling my own old comment). The whole "shortage of IT talent" hysteria is way overblown when you look at the actual numbers. Just one example, latest DICE salary report: http://media.dice.com/report/2012-2011-dice-salary-survey/ Contrast the opening sentence: Technology professionals enjoyed their largest annual salary growth since 2008, according to the 2012-2011 Salary Survey from Dice, the leading career site for technology and engineering professionals. ... with the actual numbers: After two straight years of wages remaining nearly flat, tech professionals on average garnered salary increases of more than two percent, boosting their average annual wage to $81,327 from $79,384 in 2010. So, let's see. While the inflation is chugging along at ~3% per year, we get 2 flat years, followed by a 1% increase? So basically, we make less money each year? Is the tech industry an economic miracle? Are programmers the one must-have product whose prices get lower when it's in short supply and the buyers have pockets full of cash? Or is there a simpler explanation? Even better, go ahead and play around with same title, different seniority. Junior iOS programmer: http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=junior++ios+programmer&l... Senior iOS programmer: http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=senior++ios+programmer&l... See how juniors get raises, while seniors get flat-lined? That's the downward pressure of H1Bs as well as evidence of buyers' (hiring managers) actual purchasing behavior markedly different from "we can't find anyone who can do basic fizz buzz! we need people with skillz!". |
I agree with you that there is no evidence of a general shortage in IT talent. A RAND study also found no evidence of a shortage of STEM workers at the graduate level, either (in fact, it found that the American aversion to PhDs in science and engineering is rational and market driven).
In spite of this, I do support a stronger emphasis on general skilled immigration. Australia and Canada's points system would be a good model. If you look at Australia's points system, you'll see that a licensed plumber or electrician will get as many points as an IT worker (in fact, based on the assessment, a plumber may well get more).