[colosseumbuilders, indeed.]
http://www.colosseumbuilders.com/american.htm
H-1B Quota Reached Though not officially announced, it appears that the H-1B quota has been reached. In spite of being nearly doubled last year, it was consumed in seven months. While there has been no visible activity yet in Congress, we can already see the industry PR machine at work: articles on programmer shortages, studies and "Lazy American Programmers" stories.
According to "Information Week" this critical shortage has caused our median salary to rise to a whopping $54,000 a year. Another sign of the critical shortage is that the Sunday, May 9th issue of the New York Times had a staggering 10 display advertisements for programmers.
The newsgroup us.issues.occupations.computer-programmers is now up and running. If your ISP does not carry it, ask them.
Congress slipped the expansion of the H-1B visa program into the giant budget bill that was passed in October. This legislation makes it legal for American programmers to be fired and replaced by foreign programmers.
Promotion Let's face it. Our reputation is that we are bunch of geeks. A guild would help present us as the professionals that we are. It would encourage talented people to join the profession and it would actively recruit members among all segments of the population.
Lobbying As distasteful as politics is, especially to programmers, there are many pieces of legislation that directly impact us. For example
Tax Deductions for Medical Insurance IRS Regulations regarding self employment H-1B visa program Drug Testing Non-compete clauses Software Patents
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Joseph Noonan Houston, TX jfn1 at msc.com