Silicon Valley can't import talent like before. So it's exporting jobs

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Talent Shortage vs Cheap Labor

  • Strong disagreement over whether offshoring and H1B use are about “lack of US talent” or simply “labor at salaries companies want to pay.”
  • Some argue many roles (systems, OS, eBPF, security) genuinely require deep CS fundamentals, making it uneconomical to pay $150k+ to train juniors from scratch.
  • Others counter there is plenty of qualified domestic talent; companies just prefer cheaper offshore or visa-dependent workers and then justify it with “pipeline” rhetoric.
  • H1B is described by some as “modern indentured servitude” due to visa dependency and layoff risk; others who held visas say they felt grateful, not exploited.

Corporate Incentives and Shareholder Primacy

  • Repeated theme: public companies are loyal to shareholders, not to US workers or national interests.
  • Critics trace much of this to legal and cultural “shareholder value” doctrine (e.g., Dodge v. Ford, buybacks), which strongly pushes wage minimization and offshoring.
  • Some argue this is exactly how free markets work—capital moves to cheaper labor unless regulation forbids it. Others say that’s a design flaw, not a neutral fact.

H1B Restrictions and Offshoring

  • Many note that layoffs and offshoring predate recent H1B “scrutiny,” but agree that tighter visas accelerate opening offices in India/Eastern Europe/elsewhere.
  • Viewpoints split:
    • One side laments the US “throwing away” its advantage as world talent relocates or is retained abroad.
    • Another welcomes Silicon Valley’s relative decline and questions why US workers should be protected over equally capable foreign workers.

Impact on India and Other Hubs

  • General consensus that India benefits: higher demand and pay for engineers, stronger ecosystem, and potential for more entrepreneurship as returnees bring organizational experience.
  • Some note downside for Indian startups facing rising salary competition from multinationals.
  • Israel is cited as an example where salaries are not dramatically lower than US secondary cities, yet companies feel they get stronger fundamentals (OS, algorithms).

Cycles, Local Economies, and Policy

  • Comparisons to early-2000s offshoring: initial savings, quality problems, hollowed domestic pipeline, then partial reversal.
  • Several comments describe a broader cycle: offshoring depresses local wages and demand, cities decline, then “onshoring” is rediscovered as visionary.
  • Proposed responses range from strict protectionism to withdrawing tax breaks and contracts from heavy offshorers, to comprehensive reforms of labor, corporate governance, and social safety nets.