"There is a different kind of shortage, but the American people won't like to admit it.
"What there is is a shortage of ultra-elite American-born talent, and Silicon Valley wants to hire the very best in the world. The view from Silicon Valley is that a lot of the US talent, while bountiful in number, just doesn't stack up."
That is the nub of the issue. Several of the leading companies in high-tech industry believe that "hire the best" is the most successful way to compete with other companies, and that requires hiring from a worldwide pool of job applicants. An immigration lawyer might point out that the "outstanding ability" O-1 temporary worker visa category
allows people who are truly world-class experts to enter the United States to work. (If I remember correctly, that is how Fields medalist Terence Tao was able to gain his faculty position at UCLA as a citizen of Australia, although his visa status may have changed meanwhile.) But, yes, demonstrating that a person meets the O-1 visa requirements is difficult for an employer, and even at that only allows temporary residence (not a "green card").
That American graduates of STEM programs vary wildly in quality of preparation for demanding work is why any smart company will hire workers on the basis of work-sample tests rather than on the basis of college degree requirements.
Until companies in general emphasize actual job task performance rather than school credentials in hiring, visa regulation reform won't do the whole job of helping companies meet their hiring needs.
What there is is a shortage of ultra-elite American-born talent, and Silicon Valley wants to hire the very best in the world. The view from Silicon Valley is that a lot of the US talent, while bountiful in number, just doesn't stack up.
That's a tautology. By definition, there's always going to be a shortage of ultra-elite talent. If we had a surplus of job candidates with that level of talent, it wouldn't be considered elite anymore.
SV wants easier access to the entire world's pool of ultra-elite talent, not just the US's. They want more selection and lower prices.
I don't blame them, but I don't think what they want is necessarily what's best for America. I think we would be better off if companies went back to the old-school method of "hire smart people locally and train them for the specific job skills." Because you have to train people anyway, no one is really a plug-and-play hire.
I already want to bash my head in every time an employers wants to make me waste a weekend writing basic algorithms.
Plus if that's really the problem than what's needed is a credentialing system. However, most people here will point out that "doing algorithms for a test has nothing to do with real world 'rock star' productivity," and then continue to use their own versions of competency tests.
I know lots of real engineers and they never seem to have multiple rounds of massive technical interviews filled with technical questions despite working on and designing large complex systems that can often kill people if things go wrong. Though job ads do seem to have the same issues with demanding lots of experience in pointless skills.
"There is a different kind of shortage, but the American people won't like to admit it.
"What there is is a shortage of ultra-elite American-born talent, and Silicon Valley wants to hire the very best in the world. The view from Silicon Valley is that a lot of the US talent, while bountiful in number, just doesn't stack up."
That is the nub of the issue. Several of the leading companies in high-tech industry believe that "hire the best" is the most successful way to compete with other companies, and that requires hiring from a worldwide pool of job applicants. An immigration lawyer might point out that the "outstanding ability" O-1 temporary worker visa category
http://minsk.usembassy.gov/temporary_workers.html
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind10/c3/c3s5.htm
allows people who are truly world-class experts to enter the United States to work. (If I remember correctly, that is how Fields medalist Terence Tao was able to gain his faculty position at UCLA as a citizen of Australia, although his visa status may have changed meanwhile.) But, yes, demonstrating that a person meets the O-1 visa requirements is difficult for an employer, and even at that only allows temporary residence (not a "green card").
That American graduates of STEM programs vary wildly in quality of preparation for demanding work is why any smart company will hire workers on the basis of work-sample tests rather than on the basis of college degree requirements.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4613543
Until companies in general emphasize actual job task performance rather than school credentials in hiring, visa regulation reform won't do the whole job of helping companies meet their hiring needs.