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How to Keep America Competitive
pkbarbiedoll writes to tell us that in a recent Washington Post article, Bill Gates takes another look at the current state of affairs in computer science and education. According to Gates: "This issue has reached a crisis point. Computer science employment is growing by nearly 100,000 jobs annually. But at the same time studies show that there is a dramatic decline in the number of students graduating with computer science degrees. The United States provides 65,000 temporary H-1B visas each year to make up this shortfall — not nearly enough to fill open technical positions. Permanent residency regulations compound this problem. Temporary employees wait five years or longer for a green card. During that time they can't change jobs, which limits their opportunities to contribute to their employer's success and overall economic growth."
How do you determine who is "qualified", though? What does a degree prove these days?
And don't give me any "shows dedication" BS, either. Dedication to time-wasting is not a positive attribute, and it's the last thing needed at MS. Turn it around -- if college is useless and you hire exclusively college graduates, you might end up with a lot of people who don't have a good sense of value versus time.
On the other hand, if you live in a poor country and a college degree is your only ticket to a good life, then you'd have good reason to obtain one even if it was otherwise useless. But that doesn't mean that college graduates from poor countries are more qualified than capable non-graduates in the US.
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
What are you, some kind of communist? Don't you know free trade only applies to capital, not labor?