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Are Silicon Valley's Glory Days Over?
Hugh Pickens writes "Pete Carey writes in the Mercury News that there are 'clear warning signs' that Silicon Valley has entered 'a new phase of uncertainty' in which its standing as a tech center is at risk and that decisive action by business, government and education is needed if the region is to retain its standing as the world's center of technical innovation. 'It could be that Silicon Valley has a different future coming,' says Russell Hancock. 'It's not a given that we will continue to be the epicenter of innovation.' Among the troubling indicators in the Silicon Valley Index (PDF): 90,000 jobs lost in the last two years; the influx of foreign science and engineering talent has slowed; venture capital funding has declined; per capita income is down 5 percent from 2007; and the number of people working as contractors rather than full-time employees is rising. Adding to the valley's problems is a malfunctioning state government that is shortchanging investment in education and infrastructure."
I keep telling these idiots that the first option you should look at when jobs are declining is to increase the importation of foreign workers but do they listen?
nnnnNOOOOOoooooooo....
Seastead this.
The synergy of government, university, corporation in Silicon valley
is glued there by one critical component -- the venture capital lives
down the block and they like to see how their money is spent --
daily. Perhaps others have more direct life experience but I've
definitely seen it in biotech.
As soon as the lure of big bucks goes away, tech will be a commodity
to be found in any medium sized city's office park. The cost of life in
CA is insane.
Does this imply that continually electing right wing governors and the like has a little bitty teenie weenie something to do with economies falling into the toilet? Could it be?
I believe you'll find it's bloated government spending that's bankrupt California. And I'd hardly call Arnie 'right wing', except perhaps by Hollywood's standards.
And what people seem to not understand is that Americans bring unique skills to technology.
Whilst I'm sure America has great education and a skilled native workforce - this kind of superiority complex isn't really doing you any favours.
I do agree with you that Governments are vaguely accountable for distoring the workforce markets at the behest of large corporations - unfortunately there isn't an easy fix for that as the deck is rather stacked against the private individual in most western economies.
You are right on target; I had some serious money to invest in a startup in CA, but the sheer humiliation involved with the immigration process just made me sick. Couple that with a sad growing xenophobic hatred for immigrants, from people with no understanding of economic change, and a firm belief that anyone not born in sacred american soil must not be as smart as them, as deserving as them. It's like Google and Yahoo, founded by *those horrible people==immigrants* do not employ Americans. I don't think for a second that SV is sinking; it will float because of its sheer brainpower, money, and network-effects magnetism. But the USA is--you can't live on borrowed money and think that no troubles will happen, ever. China has, with its 2+ Trillion of greenbacks, bought the USA, and it's just waiting for the receipt. F**k everything; my money is now on gold while I wait for the dollar collapse.
Either you'll have more HB1s inside America, or you'll have competition from abroad. This is a binary decision.
Err, no.
A 3rd way would be to scrap the H1B visa program and replace it with a visa that is officially an immigration visa, not a temporary worker visa. The way it is now, H1B visa holders are at the mercy of their employers if they want to immigrate because switching employers means restarting the green card process and the green card process generally works out to about the same duration as an H1B visa + renewal. So, switch employers more than once or after a couple of years and you are essentially guaranteeing that you won't get a green card. A fix to the system like that puts visa holders on an even competitive field with citizens which will serve to increase the bargaining position of all employees.
Long-term, that's better for the country anyway. We need to encourage the brain-drain into the US to continue as it is now, we've become less hospitable to foreigners and at the same time their home countries have become a lot more hospitable to highly educated workers. Changing H1B into an official immigration-path visa would go a long way towards tilting the scales back in our favor.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Dude, take your pick. Either you'll have more HB1s inside America, or you'll have competition from abroad. This is a binary decision.
Wow, this is so completely wrong that I'd think even Slashdot mods would see through the fallacy.
It's not a binary decision. The U.S. will see fierce competition from abroad whether or not we import hordes of H1-B workers during an economic crisis when unemployment is already high.
And if you think importing hordes of H1-B workers will "save" the U.S., you're a deluded fool. The main impediment to the U.S. competing is our cost of living, and no, importing a horde of H1-B workers won't help.
But of course, all of those 5.700.000.000 people from outside America aren't as smart or deserving as real Americans...
Ah, yes. You don't have a real argument, so you throw in an appeal to emotion.
Now I am fully aware that this is a fine and dandy way to waste some good earned karma, but sorry, it's much closer to the truth.
Good job, lock in your +5 with the old "I know this will get me modded down..." trick.