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Comment by otterley | Hacker News Reader

> Don't you see the clear contradiction between the claim that the employer is paying the market wage, and the fact that they can't hire an American worker at that price?

No, there's no contradiction. Again, you and others seem to be assuming--without evidence--that for any given job opening, there is an additional qualified local resource available in the prevailing wage band. But that's not necessarily the case. You don't have to take large tech companies' word for it; just ask small business owners around you.

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This is literally econ 101. Price is a function of supply and demand. If there is a mismatch between supply and demand, the price shifts until they are in equilibrium. There are 165 million workers in the US, for 99.9% of jobs there are plenty of qualified American candidates who can be hired for the right price. Employers are not entitled to hire an employee at a particular wage.

> This is literally econ 101. Price is a function of supply and demand. If there is a mismatch between supply and demand, the price shifts until they are in equilibrium

I have a degree in Economics. This is a theory, and theories don’t always 100% match reality at the microscopic level.

> for 99.9% of jobs there are plenty of qualified American candidates who can be hired for the right price.

You keep making the mistake of positing facts that are not established. We’re done.

You're the one making the extraordinary claim here - that there are jobs that can't be done at any wage by any of the 165 million working Americans, and yet these jobs don't qualify for an O-1 (extraordinary ability) visa. How about justifying your argument instead of constantly burden shifting? It's very tiresome.

In this entire comment thread, you have not managed to name a single example of one of these mythical impossible-to-fill jobs.

I make no such claims. These are claims made by businesses of all sizes and industries across the nation. Absent compelling data that proves the contrary or proves some sort of far-ranging conspiracy among them to suppress wage growth, I’m inclined to believe them. My father was a small business owner and I saw the challenges of hiring people with even basic woodworking skills first hand. As someone who hires SREs I also see it first hand (though I see this as a global talent challenge and not merely the USA).

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