I missed that show unfortunately. As someone who entered this country (USA) on an H1B this is an interesting subject. The program offers foreign workers the opportunity to work in the states. When I came here I had no intention of staying, it was just a new experience and good resume fodder. However I met my wife here and since she's a citizen so I get to stay.
However there is a dark side to this program. Workers are definetly exploited, especially those from the Indian subcontinent. I know workers who were being billed out at $100/hr + and they were seeing $30K/year salaries. It takes a while for these workers to realize they are being screwed and get a new company to sponsor them and get more money. They can only do his if they haven't applied for they're greencard. Once that application has started you cannot change employers without starting the green card process over.
The question of there being enough workers in the US to fill the positions is also interesting. One thing I've noticed is that very few employers look objectively at the potential employees overall ability. They look for specific buzzword experience markers. I have over 10 yrs experiene in OO, but not using the Java language (mainly ObjectiveC). Many companies, despite the fact that I could pick up Java in a week, don't consider me experienced enough for Java projects. They will favor someone who has the buzzword and programs Java in a procedural fashion (since they used to do asp or whatever) over someone who has proven OO and internet skills. Basically the high tech labor shortage is not as great as it woud seem if companies where more objective in their searches.
Anyway, with the internet, foreign high tech education systems producing great talent, and the good old capatilism it's only a matter of time before the American programer salary begins it's downward trajectory as work is outsource to cheaper labor markets. Oh, it's not happening much now but give it time.
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I missed that show unfortunately. As someone who entered this country (USA) on an H1B this is an interesting subject. The program offers foreign workers the opportunity to work in the states. When I came here I had no intention of staying, it was just a new experience and good resume fodder. However I met my wife here and since she's a citizen so I get to stay.
However there is a dark side to this program. Workers are definetly exploited, especially those from the Indian subcontinent. I know workers who were being billed out at $100/hr + and they were seeing $30K/year salaries. It takes a while for these workers to realize they are being screwed and get a new company to sponsor them and get more money. They can only do his if they haven't applied for they're greencard. Once that application has started you cannot change employers without starting the green card process over.
The question of there being enough workers in the US to fill the positions is also interesting. One thing I've noticed is that very few employers look objectively at the potential employees overall ability. They look for specific buzzword experience markers. I have over 10 yrs experiene in OO, but not using the Java language (mainly ObjectiveC). Many companies, despite the fact that I could pick up Java in a week, don't consider me experienced enough for Java projects. They will favor someone who has the buzzword and programs Java in a procedural fashion (since they used to do asp or whatever) over someone who has proven OO and internet skills. Basically the high tech labor shortage is not as great as it woud seem if companies where more objective in their searches.
Anyway, with the internet, foreign high tech education systems producing great talent, and the good old capatilism it's only a matter of time before the American programer salary begins it's downward trajectory as work is outsource to cheaper labor markets. Oh, it's not happening much now but give it time.
Like Dude, if you've read the summary and watched 20 minutes of the movie you are totally NOT qualified to comment.