IP: New Quota Weighed for Immigrant Technology Workers

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Prediction: this , if it happens will result in a decline of enrollment in
the US Computer Science departments as it has the result of keeping the
salaries for cs people down.=20


The nation signals the value it places on fields by what it pays people in
that field and MBA, lawyers and doctors get a lot more to start that CS
equivalents.


Dave










http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022398workers.html


CyberTimes>


February 23, 1998




New Quota Weighed for Immigrant Technology Workers


By ROBERT PEAR


<Picture: W>ASHINGTON =97 Under pressure from Congress and the computer
industry, the White House is seriously considering proposals to increase
the immigration quota for computer scientists and other
information-technology workers, so that foreigners can fill thousands of
job openings in the United States.=20


The issue is extremely divisive. President Clinton and Vice President Al
Gore want to placate friends in Silicon Valley, who say there is a critical
shortage of technology workers, but they risk offending organized labor.=20


Under current law, employers can bring in up to 65,000 skilled foreign
workers each year. The workers receive visas, known as H-1B visas, that
last up to six years.=20




********************************
See you at INET'98, Geneva 21-24, July 98   <http://www.isoc.org/inet98/>