I think the game industry is even harder to crack into, because
it is such a fast-pace business. If someone gave you 1 million
dollars to develop a game in less than 2 years, what would you do?
Hire a bunch of green college grads or look for the best people?

And I would guess the number of levels of management of a typical
game company is 0-1 levels, with no more than 10-15 people. This
hardly allows any room for growth or advancement. And it doesn't
allow room for new people. The only way to grow or advance is to
quit and find another job.

Maybe if more people in the IT industry start taking on the role of
providing training to new people, regardless of related experience
or professional qualifications, they will get their positions filled.
But since it requires precious time and money, I doubt it will happen
more often.

GoWest

I also agree that this well-financed agenda has little to do with the fictional unavailability of talented, trainable programmers. It's all about helping the bottom line of Big Tech Corporations. How does the fat-cat squeeze additional profits out of his "dot.com" business? Gotta keep that bloated stock flying at 18 billion times year 2005 earnings, after all!

Once everything else is cut to the bone, there's only one thing left: the fat-cat has got to attack wages. Dismayed at the cost of relocating the whole business to India, he has no hope of just moving the factory or plant overseas (the method traditionally employed to destabilize the workforce in the rust belt)... so the traditional method of squeezing workers doesn't fly. Gotta attack it the other way, bring lower-wage folks in from outside to displace our own workers.

Regarding the much touted lack of "qualified" IT workers. Yes, it's true. There is a lack of people with Ph.D's in Computer Science with 10 years of senior system analyst experience who are willing to work for $7.95 an hour. Yes, I admit it. That really is true, and THAT is the nature of the "problem".

Do you think Billy(tm) would like to get you to write excellent software for him and pay you $5.25 an hour to do it? You bet your sweet opcodes he would, baby.

IMNSHO...

The reason why we are being told there is a scarcity is because "they" want to cut the wages of currently employed programmers.

The H1-B law is exactly on point, that's what this is really all about. One case of interest: Mention H-1B visas to Linda Kilcrease, a New Jersey-based
programmer, and she sees red.

In 1994, Kilcrease and the 250-strong information systems
department of insurance firm American International Group Inc. was fired and
replaced with foreign workers brought in on H-1B visas by the outsourcing
service Syntel Inc. The H-1B visa is a "specialty occupation" visa offered
annually by the U.S. to 65,000 foreign workers. "Before we left, they made us
train our replacements at our own desks," says Kilcrease, who now actively
lobbies against the H-1B program.

Also: ...Syntel, which because of its contract with American
International, was slapped with a hefty fine by the Department of Labor for
paying its computer programmers from India wages 20% below the legal
standard. Other H-1B critics say the number of visas is rising 10 times faster
than the growth rate in IT jobs. Still others point out the low hiring rates —
about 2% of all software applicants — and moderate wage increases, which
stood at 7% last year.

FULL TEXT OF THE STORY CAN BE READ AT: http://computerworld.idg.com.au/globalinnovators/feb1999/view.html

The information is being directed at the US Congress as part of a well synchronized lobbying effort, backed by the likes of Bill Gates and other heavy hitters in the IT industry.