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Nina Easton, Fortune Magazine senior editor and Washington columnist, on skilled worker visas and the skills gap in the U.S.
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-- -- -- President Obama is working to provide citizenship for illegal immigrants the pop to citizenship the highly skilled workers may be getting much easy -- a new bipartisan senate bill would raise the cap on.
H one B visas for highly skilled workers in exchange for an additional charge to employ -- that will be spent some math and science education in the US.
And interest in joining us now -- is fortune magazine's senior editor and Fox News contributor Mena.
Easton Nina thank you so much for joining us what do you think of this idea and raising the cap to get more highly skilled workers into the country.
Well it's certainly solves the problem of a number of country company's high tech companies in particular.
That have these jobs that go baking these very high tech jobs that are very well paying by the way pay over a 100000 dollars a year would for just a bachelors degree.
Microsoft alone has 6000 job openings that they can't bill.
-- very much helps those high tech companies that need the talent.
That claim that they're gonna go someplace like Canada to get them -- to get immigrants -- they can't get them here.
What it doesn't do what I'm concerned about.
Is that it really doesn't address the question of why don't we have American workers who are skilled -- educated who are out there and available for these jobs you know the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- -- statistics says there's three million jobs.
A month ago on felt a lot of -- -- these high tech jobs and it just requires a bachelor's degree.
In for example computer science to get one of these jobs are our education system is desperately -- -- And this -- that they set up is part in this immigration reform as part -- I'm just not sure it's it's goes far enough.
Well it's interesting is -- so clearly heard that the kids in this country.
I'm not being told the skills.
Where the jobs army is very simple really why -- they've been so slow to recognize this fact of why other countries.
Really left the US behind.
It's really a crime if you look at we got about 42000.
American high schools.
And only about a thousand or so actually offer and advanced computer science program.
And in fact you can even take computer science and -- that count towards your core.
Curriculum when you need to graduate so it starts at high school our Community Colleges are disaster it's just people go there they don't graduate they don't get guidance on the kinds of jobs and and training that they need.
To get those jobs there's something like one that counselor for -- 700 students and Community Colleges.
We've got to take a real serious look at this frankly its leadership that should start at the top with a president who cared.
About getting a workforce ready for -- the 21 century we've got seven point 9% unemployment as you just saw the CBO -- that's gonna go out to 8% likely.
I mean let's start -- to -- saying this job problem.
Our young people and getting them trained to it for the jobs are already -- let along the ones that are coming online.
So in order to make this shift -- -- talking a bit about a big expensive is it gonna cost a lot of money to change the curriculum.
You know it it.
A lot of it is priority I mean you don't eat it's a lot of it doesn't cost money it requires schools to change the priority from the that kinds of math and science that they require.
And the kinds of -- big.
Requirements that they have -- to to really focus on these these kinds of job.
Skills so it really doesn't mean.
It requires some money but it does require.
You know it's not gonna break the bank.
It's not Nina Easton Nina thank you so much for joining us think we have appreciated the -- -- it.
