[IP] more on Letter to Nancy Pelosi on Skill Bill
Begin forwarded message:
From: Vadim Antonov <avg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: November 21, 2006 2:14:44 PM EST
To: David Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Letter to Nancy Pelosi on Skill Bill
The SKILL Act of 2006 has been designed to devastate the careers of
professionals all across America. ......
It seems that all hand-waving about the H1B visas misses the very simple
fact - if there's a supply of cheaper labor, this labor is going to be
used by businesses. And in the high-tech field there are little
georgaphical constraints.
So. Limit high-tech immigration - the companies will outsource. Ban
outsourcing, the production (and taxable revenues) will move offshore.
The only effective "solution" will be total closing of the borders -
including shutdown of the Internet.
If American programmers had any clue about basics of economics they'd
welcome as many H1Bs in as possible - because it raises the living
expenses of their human competitors, and eventually makes them to demand
the same salaries for the same skills.
Keep these people where their smallish salaries have much higher
purchasing power, and then you end up pricing yourselves out of the
market.
There's only one way to stay ahead - to be more competivite. Meaning
more
skilled, more productive, more focused on serving customers. For anyone
familiar with practice of outsourcing there's little doubt that
there's no
real competition to US high-tech workforce where quality and
inventiveness
counts. The only jobs displaced and outsourced are low-grade, tedious
jobs, a high-tech equivalent of tilling rice fields, not requiring any
skills above middle school math.
These jobs paid well when in-depth computer literacy was low.
Nowadays we
have kids who have grown up with computers, and to them these jobs
are no
more special or skilled than driving trucks.
--vadim
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