Guest Workers Part 2

There were some interesting responses in regards to my recent post about an apparent shortage of IT workers in the US and the desire by some firms to bring in workers to offset this shortage. First of all, statistics rarely tell the whole story. In some cases the same statistic can be presented in such a fashion that it can be used to prove and disprove the same position. So merely basing a decision that there is a shortage of 200, 000 developers in the US on such a broad category can be misleading. Developers in what discipline – Cobol? So that needs to be clarified. Also, how long has this “shortage” lasted and are there developers in training (at Universities etc.) now that could fill this shortage in a year or so? There is enough turmoil and angst in the IT field with outsourcing and downsizing, but to say that there is a “shortage” of workers and you need to import 200,000 workers to fill this at the same time you are laying off workers here in the US – that is a bit much. As I said before, if there is shortage – train here! Train US workers to fill these gaps; train them so that they can get a better paying job and new skillsets; train them so that they can better provide for their families; train them so that their money remains here in US is invested here and stimulates our economy – enough money is heading overseas as it is. I don’t want to sound as if I am anti-immigrant or an isolationist – I lived overseas for 13 years and know that the world is too small for us to assume an isolationist stance. But you have to take care of your own family – the US family – for our country and economy to be vibrant and resilient.