As reported on The Verge.
By Jeff Blagdon
Faced with a shortage of skilled job applicants, more than 100 of the biggest names in technology signed a letter urging the US Congress and White House to pass significant immigration reforms. Reported in The Hill, the letter (below) was signed by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Eric Schmidt, Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer, and many others, and calls for lawmakers to pass bills currently introduced in the Senate like the Immigration Innovation Act and the Startup Visa Act. The letter points out that “tens of thousands” of jobs are going unfilled, with five companies — IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, and Qualcomm, accounting for more than 10,000 alone.
The signatories argue that the legislation would make it easier for companies to hire talented workers, while at the same time increasing investment in technical education in the US. Immigration reform and investment in STEM education have been major issues for the president, who in January warned Republicans that he would force a vote on his own proposal if they moved to obstruct comprehensive changes to immigration policy.