Even as an immigrant to the US, I agree with this. A large part of the shortage is self-inflicted.
Did we see a shortage of American workers who could do the job right away?
YES. Not many people work in the same area of technology. There really aren't many people working in some areas of tech.
Did the employer try to compromise on their requirement of "rockstar coder with 1000 wpm typing speed, PhD in app programming, merge k-sorted arrays in 15 mins with good syntax and no compiler?"
NO. And this is why there is no shortage. It's their demand for rockstars when reality is most companies are mediocre (at best). It's not shortage, your company sucks, interviews suck and nobody wants to work there.
Did we see a shortage of American workers who could do the job right away?
YES. Not many people work in the same area of technology. There really aren't many people working in some areas of tech.
Did the employer try to compromise on their requirement of "rockstar coder with 1000 wpm typing speed, PhD in app programming, merge k-sorted arrays in 15 mins with good syntax and no compiler?"
NO. And this is why there is no shortage. It's their demand for rockstars when reality is most companies are mediocre (at best). It's not shortage, your company sucks, interviews suck and nobody wants to work there.