[geebee]

I'd normally agree with much of what you said, with one twist that changes the nature of the discussion completely: you're describing an industry where employers routinely claim that there is a critical shortage of software developers (at the price they want to pay, though this is almost left unspoken).

So I could rephrase your last sentence as "so quit your whining and either invest in your workforce so that they have the skills that you need, or raise the pay you're offering until you get your workers at a rate that technically has no limits."

If we're part of the labor market "like everyone else", then why does our particular segment of the industry spend so much money and time lobbying for special visas and other types of consideration from the government? Like I've said many times here on HN, I support a greater emphasis on skilled immigration. But when a software developer in SF earns only a bit more than a dental hygienist and a bit less than a registered nurse, I don't think that the software developer "shortage" is any more acute than the shortage of skilled workers in every other segment of the economy.