Ah, indeed not… I’ve sent the first $10 to Barack Obama’s campaign.

The other $10 is still sitting in the paypal account. I’m wondering whether to send it to him as well…

If that doesn’t get people commenting I don’t know what will…

Hoho! Game On!
@Chris,
So what do the presidential candidates have to say about the “great tech talent shortage” in the US and what does their (voting) record suggest they will do about it, if elected?

More H1-Bs and equivalent? More tax-benefits for hiring US citizens (but at what wages?)

@Chris&Mark – Looks like this might be a two-horse race…..

…. but any late entries for the $20 SimonStapleton.com Superstakes?

@Mark,

Great question. Unfortunately, this issue is low on the radar and as far as I can tell, neither candidate has discussed it.

Being in IT in the US, there is a Great Tech Talent Shortage. The key word though is talent. There is no shortage of barely-talented tech people.

India or the Philippines or China do not generally provide additional talent (besides an open world-view, something quite valuable) but they do provide barely-talented techs at a much lower cost.

The truly talented, though, are very hard to find. These people are not mass-produced by the education system, although I might caveat that by saying that some university programs are good at producing high-quality graduates. Generally, though, not.

As far as what might be offered to companies for hiring Americans, I have heard nothing compelling from the presidential candidates besides “We’re gonna create more jobs at home”.

Are we completely off-topic yet?

@Chris This thread has gone off topic I think but who will mind? Simon can always delete the comments. You make a good point that it is the education system’s responsibility to churn out top talent. Why has it gone so wrong then given the quality of US education? Is India for eg just better? India does produce great techs but their lack of instituted entrepreneurialism holds them back.

@Mae – I won’t be deleting this!

@Mae,

What’s gone wrong with the US education system? The kindergarden, middle and high schools are failing the kids, and those kids that make it to university are either challenged heavily and have to cram like mad (a good thing) or they fail (a bad thing). When the university has a large number of these students, however, they can collectively bring down the quality of the university.

The problem with India is not entrepreneurship. It’s corruption, lack of coordination and lack of discipline in institutions. It’s getting better though.

As far as great techs: not from my experience. I do know a smart java programmer from the region, but he’s Bangladeshi. I know a smart CISCO security engineer, but he’s from Sri Lanka. By great tech, by the way, I don’t mean: can type fast making Java programs. I mean: can solve problems using tools appropriate for the job.

That’s strictly my personal experience and should definitely not be used to make sweeping generalizations. But all I can go with is my personal experience, so I go with that.

Simon,

I just found your blog recently and em enjoying it immensely. I’m not sure I’ll be taking your $20 anytime soon (relax Chris), but I do plan on commenting here and there.

One question – I have you subscribed in my Google reader. When I click on a particular post to read, instead of getting directed over to the post, it looks like I just come to your main site. Then I have to scroll down and find the post I wanted to read. Am I doing something wrong? If not, is there any way to come directly to the post?

Regardless – I’m looking forward to many more great articles and insight. Keep up the good work.