US visas run out. What's the solution?

andy@assembla.com — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 09:52:00 +0000

We ran out of H-1B visas on the first day. US Immigration services received 150,000 applications for 65,000 H-1B visas, which are the visas most commonly used by programmers seeking to work inthe United States – as summarized by this Cnet story. Last year, it took two months to reach the same limit. What does this mean?

America still is the land of opportunity. Our technology business has recovered, and we are ready to work. We need to bring in talented people to build and create our entrepreneurial businesses.
Our government has converted this opportunity into a problem – a problem for employers, and a problem for offshore talent.
It has become even more important to figure out how to effectively manage distributed teams, so that we can work our way around bureaucratic obstacles.

There is another, important implication that I think has been overlooked by almost every commentator on the immigration issue. Employers are increasingly eager to bring skilled workers to the US, instead of leaving them in “low cost” countries, because the cost differential has narrowed. It doesn’t cost much extra to move someone to the US. If US salaries were much higher, there would be a bigger incentive to leave workers at home.

In the last year, salaries in places like India and Russia have risen rapidly, the dollar has declined, and US salaries have risen only moderately. So, the demand for H-1B visas indicates two favorable trends for US skilled workers. First, there is a big demand for local skilled labor here in the land of free enterprise. Second, the price war that fueled outsourcing has mostly run its course, and the next field of competition is about quality and the freedom to do a good job.

Although the advocates of raising the H-1B cap deny that H-1B visa holders push down wages for skilled Americans, I think it is probably true that wages get pushed down somewhat. A pure economic analysis would show that wages are held down, while the number of jobs is increased. I am willing to admit that I am not sure that this is a bad thing. I like the idea that jobs go to the best candidate. And, I work for a number of startups that are strugging to attract local technical talent so they can move forward.

So, we are working to fill this demand by building our local recruiting skills, and by constantly improving our ability to manage globally distributed teams.

"US visas run out. What's the solution?" by casino en linea en espanol

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 02:00:31 +0000

It’s agreed to be spat! It’s sick to be disbanded! It’s increased to be haltered! Some casinos en espana is alertly integral. Casinos espana drove the position. I removed that house according to some boy.

Assembla Blog: US visas run out. What's the solution?

US visas run out. What's the solution?

"US visas run out. What's the solution?" by casino en linea en espanol