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> The economics of a free market says that salaries should > be at the point where supply meets demand. If there's a > shortage of labor, it implies that sa

> The economics of a free market says that salaries should > be at the point where supply meets demand. If there's a > shortage of labor, it implies that salaries are not high > enough. This is only true if supply is easily increased. The percentage of the population willing and able to be trained as software developers appears to be strongly inelastic. > lobbying the government to allocate more H1-B visas If a company is willing to pay above market rates to import a developer from another country, doesn't that imply that there is indeed a lack of local talent?

greenyoda 13y ago
"This is only true if supply is easily increased. The percentage of the population willing and able to be trained as software developers appears to be strongly inelastic." If the salaries of software developers go up relative to the salaries of Wall Street analysts or neurosurgeons, more smart young people will quickly start going into CS. Conversely, if word gets out that tech companies are doing everything they can to hold salaries down while making their employees work long hours, fewer people will major in CS. The number of people willing to enter a field is a function of the job prospects in that field. Also, people in other fields who already write code as part of their jobs (e.g., scientists using NumPy) wouldn't be that hard to train as software developers. I've known some excellent software developers who used to be scientists. "If a company is willing to pay above market rates to import a developer from another country, doesn't that imply that there is indeed a lack of local talent?" If a company has been caught illegally colluding with other companies to artificially hold down the salaries of local employees, wouldn't you be somewhat suspicious that its goal in importing more workers (increasing the supply of workers and thus the competition among workers for jobs) might also be to keep down the price of labor? An alternative would be to offer higher salaries, at which point they'd have a much better chance of recruiting developers from other parts of the U.S. to move to Silicon Valley, which is one of the most expensive places in the country to live. If a Silicon Valley company offered me 50% more than what I'm making now, my standard of living would probably decline, especially due to the quality of housing I could afford within easy commuting distance of work.

greenyoda 13y ago

"This is only true if supply is easily increased. The percentage of the population willing and able to be trained as software developers appears to be strongly inelastic." If the salaries of software developers go up relative to the salaries of Wall Street analysts or neurosurgeons, more smart young people will quickly start going into CS. Conversely, if word gets out that tech companies are doing everything they can to hold salaries down while making their employees work long hours, fewer people will major in CS. The number of people willing to enter a field is a function of the job prospects in that field. Also, people in other fields who already write code as part of their jobs (e.g., scientists using NumPy) wouldn't be that hard to train as software developers. I've known some excellent software developers who used to be scientists. "If a company is willing to pay above market rates to import a developer from another country, doesn't that imply that there is indeed a lack of local talent?" If a company has been caught illegally colluding with other companies to artificially hold down the salaries of local employees, wouldn't you be somewhat suspicious that its goal in importing more workers (increasing the supply of workers and thus the competition among workers for jobs) might also be to keep down the price of labor? An alternative would be to offer higher salaries, at which point they'd have a much better chance of recruiting developers from other parts of the U.S. to move to Silicon Valley, which is one of the most expensive places in the country to live. If a Silicon Valley company offered me 50% more than what I'm making now, my standard of living would probably decline, especially due to the quality of housing I could afford within easy commuting distance of work.