Sunday, August 2, 2015

Yes

Is the Supposed STEM Shortage a Myth Used to Serve Tech Companies Labor Policies?
This has been another episode of simple answers to simple questions.

The slightly longer version of this, as Erik Loomis notes, is that when companies like Qualcomm are calling for a massive expansion in the H1B Gastarbeiter (guest worker) program because of an alleged shortage of skilled workers, while at the same time laying out thousands of skilled workers with US citizen or Green Card status, it is clear that they are trying to engage in labor arbitrage to drive wages down.

There is no STEM shortage.

It has never showed up in any data, and when you talk to tech firms, it becomes clear that they see the Gastarbeiter programs as a way of ensuring that an endless stream of low wage and compliant workers don't require them to pay a fair market price for skilled workers.

H/T Atrios.

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