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Computer World

ITAA strikes (out) again


By Frank Hayes
03/02/98 Ready to have your intelligence insulted -- again? Here's the
Information Technology Association of America's (ITAA) new slogan for
getting more people into the business, in the face of a growing IT labor
crunch:
"Anyone can do it. All you need is a willingness to learn."
Fancy that. Here we thought skills and aptitude and experience might have
something to do with writing useful software and managing networks
effectively and creating systems that make businesses more successful.
All you need? A willingness to learn is just the beginning. IS shops and
high-tech vendors need business expertise, a solid grasp of how to apply new
technologies and, most of all, the vision to understand what users and the
business require.
The big technology companies that make up the ITAA know that, of course. Not
one of them would hire someone whose only qualification is a willingness to
learn. In fact, last week, they went to Congress, begging for help in
finding top-flight IT workers.
But these companies, including Microsoft, Sun and Texas Instruments, weren't
looking for just anyone willing to learn. They asked Congress to increase
the number of foreign high-tech "guest workers" -- so-called H-1B workers.
The ITAA wants the government to ease the IT labor shortage by raising the
current limit from 65,000 H-1B workers to as many as 100,000. That's a bad
idea -- and even more insulting to IT professionals' intelligence than the
"anyone can do it" slogan.
For one thing, it assumes we can't count. The ITAA itself calculates we're
346,000 IT workers short already. Throwing in 35,000 more guest workers is
just a drop in the bucket -- still leaving more than 300,000 empty seats.
Some help, huh?
For another, it assumes we can't see the difference between these guest
workers and immigrants.
Real immigrants -- such as Intel boss Andrew Grove and Borland founder
Philippe Kahn -- stay in the U.S. permanently. They get a shot at the
American dream and a chance to make a long-term difference for all of us by
creating new products, new companies and new jobs.
But guest workers get temporary visas that last only a few years. After
that, they're required by law to leave the country. It's exactly the same
law that lets Mexican farm workers into the U.S. just long enough to pick
crops, then ships them back across the border.
The IT labor crunch is real. The U.S. Department of Commerce says we'll need
1.3 million new IT professionals in the next decade -- and we're not
producing them fast enough. Desperate companies steal workers from their
competitors, who steal them back. That's why we've got 25% to 35% turnover
in corporate IS shops.
This isn't just a shortage of warm bodies. It's a crisis in our ability to
build loyalty and retain our best people.
Short-term guest workers aren't the solution -- just a highly visible
symptom of the problem.
Still, if the ITAA really wants more foreign IT workers, here's a modest
proposal: Lobby to let them come for good, as permanent immigrants.
Will some of those green-carders compete with Americans for IT jobs? Sure.
Politicians concerned about fallout from that can link hiring new IT
immigrants with retraining and hiring older IT professionals, for
example.But more important, if ITimmigrants are here for the long haul, they
will have a chance to help create jobs, not just fill them -- to add
business value, not just keep their heads down until their visas run out.
They'll have a stake in everybody's future. And that's not an insult to
anybody.