He sees the real threat as global competition and the loss of jobs in other industries going abroad. Politicians who don't understand that have their heads in the sand. But while companies lobby for more foreign workers in this country, an even more significant number of U.S. software development jobs are going overseas. U.S. technology companies, including HP, IBM, Intel and Microsoft, farm out jobs to offshore body shops, primarily in India, where there seems to be a limitless supply of experienced programmers. High-tech companies are also spawning their own subsidiaries overseas because of the tight domestic labor market and are benefiting from significantly lower wages, Salzman says.
Efforts have to be taken on several fronts.
President Clinton says the U.S. should be recruiting talent from underrepresented groups, such as older workers, minorities, women, people with disabilities and residents of rural areas. But given the constant swings of presidential administrations, Congress and the economy, U.S. immigration policies will likely change again.