Robert Reich on Immigration

Former Secretary of Labor; Democratic Challenger MA Governor

Against more H-1B visas: not a long-term solution

Give stock options.
Help IT professionals keep their skills sharp.
Grow your own [such as a] technology and engineering institute
Recruit more aggressively [in] smaller rural communities and to women and minorities.

But there’s something I wouldn’t recommend, because it’s not a long-term solution. Don’t go to Washington to fight for allowing more foreign engineers and designers to enter the US on temporary H-1B visas. That may help in the short term, but it doesn’t deal with the underlying problem. It won’t create a permanently bigger stream of IT professionals for the future.

America’s buoyant economy is a testament to the dynamism of its IT sector. But for IT to stay dynamic, more Americans will have to become a part of it.

Source: Computer World, “Coping With the Shortage” , Sep 6, 1999

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Page last updated: Nov 23, 2011