Immigration and the global IT work force

Reviewer: Charlene A. Dykman

This is an excellent article that discusses, in depth, the various forces that are impacting the mobility of technology savvy workers around the world. The authors have done a very nice job of presenting the various forces that are at work. Technology skills and knowledge are being treated as commodities in this marketplace. As the global economy has been facilitated by technology, we can virtually "match" labor to job that might previously remained unfilled. Within the United States, it is clear that there is a shortage of technical competency and it is not surprising that the U.S. has looked extensively for talent in other countries. This demand for foreign workers in the U.S. has created an interesting phenomenon. Other countries are losing their technology elite to grander job opportunities in the United States. This situation is happening just as the lesser developed countries are building IT infrastructures that require expertise such as they are losing to another country. For example, there are 5,000 Australians working in Silicon Valley while there is a shortage of 30,000 IT professionals at home in Australia. They are attracted to the United States by higher salaries and all the benefits of opportunities in the U.S. This is even more true in countries such as India and Pakistan where the standard of living is much less than that of the United States. The authors have made a good case for the impact that the global marketplace for IT workers is having in other countries. Similarly, the United States is also being impacted by the dependency on foreign workers. These workers are often less than desirable in terms of language skills and that creates difficulties in communication in the real world of IT work where communication and management skills are becoming more important every day. Yet, employers continue to seek foreign workers, who are often willing to work for less than the American counterparts. The authors do not discuss that there may be other ways to address this shortage. Perhaps we need to be supporting the educational system of the United States with the same amount of fervor that we exhibit in trying to get increases in the number of visas that allow temporary employment of foreign workers. Instead of increasing the number of visas and subsequently increasing the dependency on foreign workers, maybe we need to look at the other side of this situation. Overall, this is an excellent article with a lot of valuable information. I recommend it for those who are interested in the global situation with respect to IT workers.