We could also give them a clear, short path to citizenship if we didn't have enough. Instead we do our best to keep it as chaotic as possible so that those SWE we need can't push for 175/225k

How about we stop centralizing tech talent around 7 big companies that hire H1Bs, and instead let all companies engage in international (and domestic) exchanges of labor and services? Aka, all software engineers now self organize into small groups funded by independent contracts from larger companies.

This solves many, many problems, including where should laborers live, fairness in interviews, etc.

> it is still nowhere near the required amount.

How do you reconcile that with all of the SWE layoffs in the past few years?

That's an obvious lie. If it were true, companies wouldn't be suing to keep their job postings hidden from American citizens (source: the article)

> Jm2c but I think the harsh truth is that US while having a decently sized population of good software engineers, it is still nowhere near the required amount.

This is not true now, if it ever was (maybe for very short periods); there is tremendous competition for every good SWE job out there, and has been for a long time.

This is a sorry excuse. If companies were required to hire American students, they would have a strong incentive to foster the development of American talent. It would not be a problem.

> Thus, many companies would rather give 150/200k to someone who's actually good at it and will be impressed by that money rather than some half assed US graduate who only went into SE because he wanted a cushy well paying job.

The idea that Americans wouldn't fight tooth and nail for these jobs is just idiotic.

How dare that loser want a cushy, well paying job. This is America, that's not allowed for them. We like our workers desperate.