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U.S. should import more skilled workers
Commentator Will Wilkinson
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TEXT OF COMMENTARY
Scott Jagow: A new report says that within seven years, the U.S. needs hundreds of thousands of new graduates in math and science fields. That's to keep up with the rest of the world.
But commentator Will Wilkinson says an advanced degree in science won't necessarily protect Americans from cut-throat competition.
Will Wilkinson: If you're a highly-skilled worker, America needs you. But if you've got a foreign passport, we probably won't let you in.
The U.S. issues only 65,000 H-1B visas for skilled workers each year and that's not very many. Senators McCain and Obama have both said they would support raising the cap. They acknowledge we need more skilled workers, and they're right. Yes, it would be good for innovation and growth and it would bring down the prices of goods created by skilled workers, but here's another reason you might not have thought of: Wage inequality.
Increases in wage inequality over the past few decades is primarily a story of the supply and demand of skilled labor together with the effects of technological innovation. Wage increases tend to track improvements in the productivity of labor and gains in productivity tend to be driven by innovations that help workers do more in less time. But in recent decades, technical innovation has increased the productivity of more highly-educated workers faster than it has for less-educated workers. These growing inequalities in productivity have helped create growing inequalities in wages.
But that's not the whole story. The American system of higher education produces skilled workers too slowly to keep up with the demand. This scarcity in the supply bids up the wages of the well-educated even more, further widening the wage gap. If we raised visa quotas on skilled labor, that would help bring supply in line with demand and reduce the wage gap between more and less skilled workers.
These days, almost everybody but their beneficiaries think agricultural subsidies are a lousy idea. They benefit a few already relatively wealthy American farmers and agribusiness firms to the detriment of poor farmers around the world. But H-1B visa restrictions are subsidies that benefit relatively rich domestic workers over their poorer foreign peers, and so it turns out many of us liberal-minded college grads are enjoying our own protectionist boost.
In this case, it seems the moral outrage is... well, we seem to be keeping it to ourselves.
Jagow: Will Wilkinson is a research fellow at the Cato Institute.
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Yes, there are literally millions of kids around the world who can compete with your computer skills (and science skills), and since many of them are dirt-poor, they are willing to work endless hours. More power to them. And, your government is using your tax dollars to import as many of these workers as it can (H1-B). But, the demand for this kind of work is so huge that even with such competition amercian tech/science workers will still own their own home and drive a nice car by the time they are 30. The key point here is not the H1-B visa issue, it is that a computer science (or any science for that matter) student will work about 20 times harder than other majors (non-science) while only gaining about 2 or 3 times the benefit. In other words, it is a long way to go for a relatively small advantage, so, most young people are going to put their efforts toward a higher "return on investment".
There is absolutely no need to be importing any foreigners at all. I am a former software engineer and haven't been able to get a job since 1997 despite hi tech job skills and a BS degree in computer science. THERE IS NOT A SHORTAGE OF TECH WORKERS.
Companies are swamped with thousands of resumes every day from highly educated skilled workers. Yet they are rejecting them all and saying there's a shortage of workers. It's absolutely criminal what companies do.
Hi
If still US provide more H1 visa to foreign workers it leads US to lose more employment in the domestic population, this will definetely affect their economy as well. If the domestic workers lose the job they cant demand their needs, If they not demand they market capital will be affected. Finally economy will collapse, stock exchange go downwards curve and entire world will face the problem.
Thanks
Madan
If you feel that the U.S. should import workers, then what would you do if some(not one) of the imported workers can do your job better than you? Would you bow out and try to find work doing something else or fight for your job? Maybe you need to experience loosing your job to someone you want imported to the U.S. This country may have been built by slaves and ran by immigrants but we ( U.S.) citizens are keeping it built throughout good and bad times.
The problem with the h1b program is that it is an indentured servent program that makes it immpossible for the american graduate to compete head to head for the same position as an h1b visa holder. From the employers prospective would you rather train an engineer who will work for you at below market rate with unpaid overtime for 6 years (h1b visa holder) or would you hire an american who would most likely not put in unpaid overtime and will find a higher paying job with one of your competitors in 3 years?
According to a February 9, 2007 release from the National Association of Colleges and Employers: National Averages Chemical engineering ($60,054) Computer engineering ($54,877) Electrical/electronics and communications engineering, ($54,599) Mechanical engineering ($54,587) Economics ($51,631 ) Computer science ($51,070) Finance ($47,905) Civil engineering ($47,145) Accounting ($46,508) Business administration/management ($43,523) Marketing/marketing management, including marketing research ($41,323) As far as being a TA and concluding that most of the students are poor in math. Do you ever stop to think that the student going to a TA for help are most likely not the strongest students. <sigh>
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students less than 25 category) are not good at math - specially differtial calculus which was a big part of the course. On the other hand, all Masters students who graduated around the same time i did are employed - americans and international. I earn around $80000 in sacramento and unless people feel that it is too low for a new grad I don't buy all that H1bs are affecting the job market. One thing i found intersting was that most of my friends would not move if there was a good opportunity in an another state whereas the international students would and made them look better. One thing I would say that the companies have become very specific in terms of the skills they expect and if I had not done 1 particualr course that helped me get this job I would had to continue my search for a job a little longer. This is not a h1b issue but our own - the conflict between the employee and the share holder.
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