here is an update
Richard Dekaser, Chief Economist of National City and Stuart Anderson from National Foundation for American Policy were interviewed.
The topic was, is there really a "Skill Shortage or Pay Shortage".
Richard said it was an exaggeration. Quote "if there was truly a labor shortage in US today then the real wage would raise dramatically but it didn't. So maybe a scarcity in a particular occupations in particular locations but to elevate this to this size of a serious crisis is an exaggeration". Unquote.
But Richard also said that US Immigration policy needs to be reexamined as it is more oriented towards family reunification which holds them people with less skills. 20-30 yrs ago we had criteria that reqd immigrants to meet a certain educational threshold. And as we are seeing increased need for talent in this country, we need to re-examine that aspect of immi policy and untill then we are gonna see this problem continue."
At this point the lady who interviewed the two mentioned that "Bill Gates made that very case in Capitol Hill just a while ago about H1B visa increase".
Stuart talked about H1B and GC quota stating "H1B quotas were exhausted even before the start of fiscal year and GC quota wait is more than 5 years".
He also mentioned about -ve externality
They also showed a slide from the Business Council Survey that states:
- "Across the board" CEOs can't find skilled workers
- Finding Skilled workers on all levels is the #1 priority
- Education is "key"
