I remembered having commented on this about half a year ago on a post which at the time didn't get a lot of up-votes. I just dredged it up: "Clearly the tech

I remembered having commented on this about half a year ago on a post which at the time didn't get a lot of up-votes. I just dredged it up: "Clearly the tech talent shortage can't be that bad, otherwise salaries would be going through the roof. I realize they may seem high relative to many other professions, however if we really are in dire straights, one would expect them to have spiked dramatically. That just hasn't happened. Either collectively the valley is colluding to not inflate wages, or, more likely, the problem isn't as big as many companies are making it out to be and those companies want to bring in foreign workers to help put deflationary pressure on wages." I guess it turns out that was a false dichotomy and both things were happening. It looks like there was a conspiracy, and the tech companies still complained about not being able to find workers while pressuring congress for more H1-B visas. My point is I don't think you'll be able to really get an accurate picture of how much wages were depressed because many companies are trying their hardest to decrease workforce mobility any way possible (legal or otherwise). I've personally seen some pretty crazy shenanigans at a very large tech company with workers being steered through insane hurdles to get a green card. And I guess why not? If you can get someone to stick around for 5 or 6 years at a reduced wage, why wouldn't you do that?