Are American Engineers in Short Supply?

Lets look at how the government comes up with these numbers and how they are used by companies such as Qualcomm. The government comes up with 5 salary ranges. For a common job title such as "Senior Software Engineer", the wages range from a little over $60K for the lowest range to well over $100K for the highest range. That's an enormous variation in salaries, but guess what? There is no pressure on companies to pick the high salary ranges. Digging through Qualcomm's LCAs, the data shows that most Senior Engineers are paid in the 2nd to the bottom tier of wages (around $80K/yr). Wages that equate to what Qualcomm used to pay Senior SW Engineers over 10 years ago according to friends of mine who worked for the company back then. It's interesting to note that not all of Qualcomm's Senior Software engineers are paid at the bottom tiers. The vast majority are, but a select few are highly paid and come in at close to, or over $100K. Unfortunately the government doesn't require that companies disclose more information about these hires, but it's my bet that the higher salaries reflect hiring of experienced H-1Bs that have been in the US, while the low salaries reflect people being imported (mostly from India). The difference in wages between these two groups is stunning, about $20K-$30K per person and I think this shows how much Qualcomm is saving in hiring a foreign worker over an American through their abuse of the H-1B Visa. It's also interesting to note that the Government doesn't make any distinction about the types of software engineers that it provides salary information for. For example there used to be large salary differences between SW developers with more common skill sets (desktop/web software for instance) vs those with a less common and more "in demand" skill set such as telecomm and embedded expertise. To the government a software engineer is a software engineer, and the salaries from both groups are lumped together in their tables. Companies can use salaries from the lower tables even for the most in demand occupations and skill sets. Unfortunately this is creating a leveling of salaries which means that those with the most in demand skill sets, can no longer command the higher salaries. In other words the incentives are reduced for those who work the hardest and have the best skill sets. Talk about the end of free enterprise and a free job market. CompeteAmerica.org would have people believe that the demand of H-1B Visas follow free market trends, and should therefore be demand based. But the reality is that they have created entire industries whose salaries that are being mandated by government, while being set very low. An Orwellian situation that provides disincentives for Americans to enter STEM professions.
— May 5, 2011 6:12 p.m.

Are American Engineers in Short Supply?

I just took a look at Qualcomm's H-1B salary information. Talk about a joke - The government requires that companies pay those on a H-1B Visa the "prevailing wage" and the prevailing wage is in turn determined by the Government. Since when is the government in the business of specifying salaries? This smacks of being completely non-free market. In theory the idea is that the use of a government prevailing wage prevents wage abuse. But in actual practice what its done is to mandate a salary bar and a low one at that. Here is what I mean: In San Diego, Qualcomm is the 800 lb hiring Gorilla and employs about as many engineers as the rest of San Diego businesses combined. In the past 10 years, (when Qualcomm decided to replace their American workforce with less expensive foreign labor), they hired 6,224 engineers and IT workers on H-1B Visas for their total workforce of 12,500. By their sheer numbers, these 6,224 workers being paid the "prevailing wage", can't help but have a tremendous impact on the job market and wages throughout engineering jobs in San Diego, including outside of Qualcomm. This is the "setting the bar" that I mentioned. To see how the bar is set low, let's take a deeper look.
— May 5, 2011 6:12 p.m.

The Federal Reserve's Money Orgy

Yup, Wall Street loves free money... and cheap labor. It was interesting to see how quickly Wall Street went from demanding a bailout to demanding smaller government and less regulation.
— May 5, 2011 4:59 p.m.

The Federal Reserve's Money Orgy

Incredible story. This just goes to reaffirm my belief that in the FED's mind, only Wall Street matters. Their mindset is that so long as Wall Street is flush with cash then "trickle down economics" will ensure that Main Street will eventually benefit. The only problem is that the Robber Baron's are keeping the money. As far as NAFTA goes, I agree, Ross Perot was right. There was some belief at the time that more jobs in Mexico could be a good thing for Mexico and help reduce the flow of illegals. But look at Mexico now, the country is is in the pocket of Drug Lords, tourism has dropped and the standard of living of Mexican citizens hasn't improved. The flow of illegals into the US has been reduced, but not because of NAFTA but rather because the American economy was wrecked by the same Wall Street powers that pushed for NAFTA and later for outsourcing on a larger scale to China.
— May 5, 2011 12:33 p.m.

Are American Engineers in Short Supply?

Very true. The recent David Stockman comments really drive this point home: "I believe we no longer have free market capitalism and we no longer have a democracy," says David Stockman, the blunt-talking former Michigan Congressman and Director of the OMB during the Reagan administration. What now exists at the heart of the U.S. economy, Stockman argues, is "crony capitalism" - a system that benefits and even rigs the system in favor of America's banks and bankers at the cost of average Americans. It's a system built on the back of government-issued bailouts and free money. "The Fed is the great enabler" through its free money policies, which "generate results the market wouldn't otherwise provide for," he says."
— April 27, 2011 5:52 p.m.

Are American Engineers in Short Supply?

Agreed. Wal-Mart is one of the worst offenders in terms of driving outsourcing, and their stock has been flat for 10 years now. This seems to imply a lack of demand from the downward spiraling middle class that has traditionally been their base. I've heard that Wal-Mart is chasing demand in Asia now, so unfortunately a day of reckoning may never happen. It's sort of analogous to a plague of locusts that fill their bellies by decimating a vibrant field of crops, only to take flight and seek the next field...
— April 27, 2011 5:39 p.m.

Qualcomm Reports Great Earnings, Helps Lift Market

I also agree with you that nobody is worth $17.6M. In the corporate world everyone is replaceable...
— April 26, 2011 3:38 p.m.

Qualcomm Reports Great Earnings, Helps Lift Market

Looking through the wages that Qualcomm is paying their H-1B staff (which is public info), it's pretty clear that the program adds to Qualcomm's bottom line to the tune of somewhere between $100M to $300M per year. Or somewhere right around 1/10th of earnings. It's a good example of corporate welfare going to a fortune 500 wireless monopoly and paid for off the backs of American workers.
— April 26, 2011 3:38 p.m.

Are American Engineers in Short Supply?

I posted earlier about David Stockman (former head of OMB under Reagan), who has done a good job of getting the word out about how the Middle Class has been hammered by Wall Street policies that enrich the top 2%'ers. He is in the news today and said that democracy is also being lost in the process: (. http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/david… .) Although he doesn't mention it, I firmly believe that the H-1B Visa is the tool that Wall Street uses to hammer white collar, upper middle class jobs and salaries.
— April 26, 2011 9:40 a.m.

Qualcomm's Jacobs 26th Highest-Paid Executive

Good point, perhaps I'm giving Irwin more credit than he deserves. My guess is that Qualcomm's commitment to the H-1B Visa escalated right around 1998 or perhaps a little sooner.
— April 12, 2011 3:36 p.m.