Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum

Scholars Debunk Claims of High-Tech Workers Shortage, Question Industry's 'Free Pass'

Four prominent scholars on Friday questioned why the high-tech industry gets a free pass to perpetuate the myth that there is a shortage of American workers in jobs related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

Unlike industry lobbyists and politicians who have repeated that claim in an attempt to secure more high-tech visas that would lower the wages of American workers, the scholars presented firm evidence to debunk the notion that the high-tecn industry is suffering from a lack of qualified American workers.

On a Friday conference call that was organized by the office of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who has been relentless in standing up for American workers and their interests during the amnesty debate, Hal Salzman, a Rutgers University public policy professor, said current wages in the high-tech and information technology (IT) industries do not reflect a labor shortage.

"Average wages in IT today are the same as they were when Bill Clinton was president well over a decade ago," Salzman said. "So one has to wonder if there is in fact a shortage, why doesn't that reflect in the market? Why don't wages go up?"