As an immigrant, I understand the deal (for a working visa): I must bring valuable and scarce skills that this economy lacks (as demonstrated by the premium it

As an immigrant, I understand the deal (for a working visa): I must bring valuable and scarce skills that this economy lacks (as demonstrated by the premium it is willing to pay). "Total Compensation" is an imperfect-but-good-enough proxy for how valuable and scarce my skills are. This does nothing to address other issues in immigration or labour forces, but if your goal is to attract global professionals with valuable and scarce skills, you need a working visa based on the total compensation this economy offers for those skills (i.e., Total Compensation).