Summary
Elon Musk faced backlash from his followers on X after advocating for importing “super talented engineers” to address a shortage in the U.S. tech industry.
Musk likened hiring top foreign talent to building a championship sports team and argues that there is a shortage of talented and motivated American engineers.
Critics argued there’s sufficient U.S. talent being overlooked or underpaid, with some pointing to widespread tech layoffs.
Musk dismissed claims of low wages or training gaps, maintaining a need for exceptional engineering talent to advance innovation.
The education available in the United States is excellent. Just not for everyone. Just like healthcare in the United States. The best healthcare in the world is available here, just not to everyone. Because of money. For those with access to it, the amount they pay for it translates into higher wage requirements.
Due to socialized education in other countries (and more robust and generally available high-quality public education), particularly in developing democracies, the average starting wage for similar talent is much lower abroad.
Musk would never consider an employee who didn’t go to Stanford or Harvard or MIT or a similarly well accredited engineering school. He also wouldn’t consider those candidates because they would have much higher wage requirements which he conflicts with “laziness“. If the richest man on earth ever were actually willing to pay a living wage to Americans, he would still have the top talent he could get elsewhere. But, as a Self interested business person, he only cares about what’s cheaper. Therefore, he integrates anything that isn’t his primary choice in order to make his immoral business decisions appear more ethical. Or at least reasonable.
When it really translates to his: “I would hire American talent, but they feel they deserve to be paid better than what I’m willing to pay anyone other than myself.”
The education available in the US is also at its most expensive for overseas students, who are desperately courted by universities for a massive cash influx (source: am post-academic who witnessed this untold times). Wealthy families send their kids over at ungodly tuition rates, the students go back home and have the prestige of a US degree, which matches them up with high-paying jobs and ensures that the family’s wealth cycle continues.
A snag: the universities make so much money off these students, that if the student is struggling or not meeting a requirement somewhere, they’ll get waved through regardless with obviously bad results. The money is the point. I suspect if Elon did start importing people for lower costs, he’d get a lot of these students: they’re not hacking it back home but have a US degree from solid R1/R2s, come with a nice letter from their parents’ company, and are willing to be low-paid yes-people in order to cover their asses. Gambit? Masterful. Dick? Fully in car door. Car door? Expertly slammed.
This tracks with my experiences.
Dumbest person I met in grad school was upper Indian caste. I wrote a paper he slapped his name on and rehashed several times to get his PhD in mechanical engineering. He didn’t understand basic concepts we learn before entering the engineering program, still has a PhD because money.
Foreign teams that have US degrees within my company also match your description. We give them a task expecting a full days work in their opposite time zone. Instead they work for 15 minutes, get confused, send a single question to us, and stop working for the rest of the day. They are less than worthless, always costing more time to clean up after than they save.
I literally just said all of that, but I already said all of that. Just with more context and explanation.
Well, I’m glad you get what I’m saying, repeating it isn’t helping anyone.
Nothing is worse, however, then you excusing the shitty actions I’ve described. That just makes you complicit.