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Why I have issues with Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us

gigaom.com

11–20 of 47 posts

Re: Why I have issues with Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us

#11
post #3

I find it interesting that Facebook wont hire a kid with a degree from a community college here in the US, but will fight tooth and nail to hire someone with a degree from an Indian college that Mark probably couldn't pronounce the name of.

How is it interesting? Credentials matter. They're one of multiple metrics any knowledge-driven company uses to find the best to fill roles. Some community-college educated kid is unlikely to have the right skills to fill roles FB or any other tech company is looking for. Even if the community college kid did get the interview (and their resume isn't immediately filtered out) good luck on that without advanced educat…

[deleted]

Re: Why I have issues with Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us

#12

Zuckerberg is not in a bubble...he has been meeting with immigration policy experts for years. He understands his role in the national immigration debate, and he is playing it very well. Many people have the goal of comprehensive immigration reform. To get it accomplished will take a lot of pushing from a lot of different directions. Zuckerberg, as the CEO of one of the most famous "new economy" innovative companies,…

The article seems baseless and a little sensationalistic. Keeping post graduates and PhDs from American universities who have job offers here makes sense to me. There are genuinely creative/productive individuals with job offers, waiting for but unable to get H1B visas. I appreciate Zuckerberg's initiative and hope we will see a change in immigration policy soon.

Re: Why I have issues with Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us

#13
post #2

Not sure I understand the point of this article. Is it that trying to improve reform regarding immigration with work visas in tech is too limited? It rambles a bit at the beginning and then alludes to hard labor jobs, but doesn't really have any clear organization or discernable purpose.

No, it's that the vast majority of immigrants are not working in tech. The vast majority of Americans are not working in tech. We have something like 11 million undocumented immigrants: their staying in the US should not be contingent on them being a part of the new business scene. Furthermore, why should the US be encouraging technologists to immigrate here, when fundamentally those immigrants are in the business of…

You're right that a vast majority of immigrants are not working in technology. However, I disagree with you that we shouldn't encourage immigration. The United States was built by immigrants. A majority of Americans are only a couple generations removed from being immigrants themselves. There's a good chance that you are as well. Many of the most innovative and industrious people were immigrants and not only in technology. The impact of sensible immigration policy that creates more tax payers (employers and/or employees) and greater transparency is good for the economy at large whether in technology or not. There is a risk to technology "putting other people...out of work", but that's irrelevant to whether they pay taxes in the United States or in another country.

Re: Why I have issues with Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us

#14
post #3

I find it interesting that Facebook wont hire a kid with a degree from a community college here in the US, but will fight tooth and nail to hire someone with a degree from an Indian college that Mark probably couldn't pronounce the name of.

Data? Source?

Re: Why I have issues with Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us

#15
post #2

Not sure I understand the point of this article. Is it that trying to improve reform regarding immigration with work visas in tech is too limited? It rambles a bit at the beginning and then alludes to hard labor jobs, but doesn't really have any clear organization or discernable purpose.

No, it's that the vast majority of immigrants are not working in tech. The vast majority of Americans are not working in tech. We have something like 11 million undocumented immigrants: their staying in the US should not be contingent on them being a part of the new business scene. Furthermore, why should the US be encouraging technologists to immigrate here, when fundamentally those immigrants are in the business of…

This seems crazy to me. Right now those Nebraskans are competing with tech workers in other countries for tech jobs. If we bring more of those workers here, then 1) the competition will happen on US soil where we can ensure the playing field is fair and 2) an influx of well-paid immigrants will create more jobs for non tech-workers in support or service industries. Any way you slice it, having more tech workers in america is better than the current trend of sending jobs overseas.

The only folks that might be harmed by this immigration shift are the tech elites here that command sky-high salaries.

Re: Why I have issues with Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us

#16
I think that the point the author was trying to make is that Mark Zuckerberg has a selection bias due to the fact that the people that he is around are generally similar (highly educated, college grads, etc.). Therefore, his view on the world is skewed towards that bias.

I think that this is true, but not just of him. If you were to talk to some of the low income families, they would probably have the reverse bias. The disparity between Zuckerbergs income and the average would tend to support the author, but that depends on how well Zuckerberg realizes and compensates for the bias. I'll leave this to be answered in the future.

Re: Why I have issues with Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us

#17
post #2

Not sure I understand the point of this article. Is it that trying to improve reform regarding immigration with work visas in tech is too limited? It rambles a bit at the beginning and then alludes to hard labor jobs, but doesn't really have any clear organization or discernable purpose.

No, it's that the vast majority of immigrants are not working in tech. The vast majority of Americans are not working in tech. We have something like 11 million undocumented immigrants: their staying in the US should not be contingent on them being a part of the new business scene. Furthermore, why should the US be encouraging technologists to immigrate here, when fundamentally those immigrants are in the business of…

Nebraska and Iowa have growing tech scenes as well. Obviously it is nowhere close to NYC and Silicon Valley, but it isn't all farmland out here either, if that's what you were thinking.

Off the top of my head: http://www.hudl.com/ http://www.travefy.com/ http://www.dwolla.com/ http://www.archrival.com/ http://www.votertide.com/ and even less-traditional sites such as http://www.occupytogether.org/

Re: Why I have issues with Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us

#20
I don't think I would feel so conflicted about this immigration policy if I didn't feel like American's weren't getting a raw deal with regards to High School Education, costs of higher education, costs of healthcare, lack of 401(k) funding.

I get that labor is simply a fixed cost to be minimized, but it feels like legacy costs of the system are hurting the ability of those to compete.

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