Immigration to increase the supply of programmers
blogs.law.harvard.edu
Immigration to increase the supply of programmers
1–10 of 119 posts
Re: Immigration to increase the supply of programmers
#2And why should we artificially restrict the supply of immigrants? It's not like it's a zero-sum game, something that Greenspun ought to realize.
http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs...
Re: Immigration to increase the supply of programmers
#3How about "raises to increase the supply of programmers" instead?
Re: Immigration to increase the supply of programmers
#4And why should we artificially restrict the supply of immigrants? It's not like it's a zero-sum game, something that Greenspun ought to realize. http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs...
Nowhere in this blog post does he say that the supply of immigrants ought to be restricted...
Re: Immigration to increase the supply of programmers
#5And why should we artificially restrict the supply of immigrants? It's not like it's a zero-sum game, something that Greenspun ought to realize. http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs...
It is not zero-sum ? companies like Google, Facebook pick 1 out of 100 programmers, if there was 10 fold increase in programmers, they would start picking 1 out of 1000. Instead of complaining shortage of programmer it makes sense to build software development processes around "average" programmers rather than insisting on superstar programmers. How many other fields do that ? Have you read an ad about hiring only superstar plumber,pilot,electrician,nurse? Even if its true that your company will benefit from so called 10x programmers why not train people to be 10x or give degrees to people who are only 10x. Just increasing the pool of 1x while insisting on hiring 10x doesn't make sense.
Re: Immigration to increase the supply of programmers
#6What we need is a new 'SAT' tailored to find top notch coders
Re: Immigration to increase the supply of programmers
#7And why should we artificially restrict the supply of immigrants? It's not like it's a zero-sum game, something that Greenspun ought to realize. http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs...
Nowhere in this blog post does he say that the supply of immigrants ought to be restricted...
He sure seems to imply that paying far above market salaries is the best way to get good programmers, rather than immigration. Maybe I'm reading it wrong?
I don't think the economics of that add up, though, long term. If there are a bunch of people willing to work, and an artificial barrier, that barrier will only work for so long before people route around it.
Re: Immigration to increase the supply of programmers
#8And why should we artificially restrict the supply of immigrants? It's not like it's a zero-sum game, something that Greenspun ought to realize. http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs...
It is not zero-sum ? companies like Google, Facebook pick 1 out of 100 programmers, if there was 10 fold increase in programmers, they would start picking 1 out of 1000. Instead of complaining shortage of programmer it makes sense to build software development processes around "average" programmers rather than insisting on superstar programmers. How many other fields do that ? Have you read an ad about hiring only su…
> It is not zero-sum
No, it really isn't. Read my article and the linked economic research.
> if there was 10 fold increase in programmers
There has been a 10 fold increase in programmers since 50 years ago, but more than a 10 fold increase in the amount of programming work, so salaries have done just fine. Also, those programmers are already there, in other countries, so artificial barriers can only create so much salary disparity before companies will pursue other options. At that point, why were you bothering trying to keep them out in the first place?
Read the linked article: it is not a zero-sum game.
Re: Immigration to increase the supply of programmers
#9And why should we artificially restrict the supply of immigrants? It's not like it's a zero-sum game, something that Greenspun ought to realize. http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs...
It is not zero-sum ? companies like Google, Facebook pick 1 out of 100 programmers, if there was 10 fold increase in programmers, they would start picking 1 out of 1000. Instead of complaining shortage of programmer it makes sense to build software development processes around "average" programmers rather than insisting on superstar programmers. How many other fields do that ? Have you read an ad about hiring only su…
Angie's List does explicitly that, showing you superstar plumbers, electricians, doctors, etc. If I am given the choice to hire a great plumber vs. an average plumber I would always hire a great plumber if I can afford him. Your argument that development processes should be built around average programmers is like saying open heart surgical procedures should be designed around average surgeons.
Re: Immigration to increase the supply of programmers
#10Maybe what we really need is an increase in VC's?
Possibly grant resident status to anyone (with lot of money of course... after all, it's only the exceptional we are talking about here) who wants to fund and run a VC company? Because there are lots of great programmers who simply can't get funding.
I wonder how PG would feel about that?