Does Our Software Industry Need More Foreign Workers To Survive?

The obvious inference is that unless we bring in more workers from abroad to populate software companies here, the companies will simply move their operations offshore–leaving more American workers searching for jobs.

That seems to make sense, but when you think about it, this entire line of reasoning is based on a false premise–that skilled and talented workers cannot be found and/or developed here in the U.S. Does anyone really believe that American workers cannot handle the jobs that need to be done? Absolutely not! Does anyone seriously think that American schools and companies are incapable of training people to do these jobs? I have never heard anyone say so.

No. What is really at issue here begins and ends with the almighty dollar (which isn’t all that mighty these days). The SIIA says the average annual wage in the software industry in 2006 was $75,400, apparently significantly above the average wage for all workers in the private sector.

That sounds fine, but if we bring in someone from overseas, they might be willing to work for considerably less than an American worker would want. So there’s a savings built in for American software makers.

And if those foreign workers get wise and demand equal treatment, the companies can always pull up stakes and move abroad to find cheaper labor.

It’s true that in recent years, U.S. college graduates have not been gravitating to computer science, but that shouldn’t stop the technology industry from offering incentives for America’s brightest to enter the field. Especially in specialized areas of technology like insurance and financial services, you would think that American companies would want to recruit and train young people who could flourish in the U.S. software industry and other technology arenas.

The problem is that it’s just too easy–and much less expensive–for software vendors to hire foreign workers or to move the entire operation offshore to gain even more financial leverage. That leaves U.S. workers who want to be part of the software industry out in the cold. In these times of looming recession, however, can we afford to be so greedy that we shove our own workers aside in the name of higher profits for the corporation?

Let’s offer incentives to our own students and train more of them for roles in the software and technology industry. We need to take care of business inside our own borders before we worry about the global economy.

The alternative? Click the heels of your ruby slippers together three times and keep repeating: “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”