Musk addresses claims of job loss, cites shortage of top engineering talent in tech
Elon Musk has weighed in on the debate about whether foreign-born workers in the US are displacing qualified native-born Americans, pushing back against claims of job "theft" by foreign talent.
Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit, a web-based integrated development environment (IDE) for coding, raised the question on X, seeking evidence to support claims that native-born Americans are being sidelined in tech hiring due to foreign workers.
“Genuinely curious: Are there actual instances where qualified native-born Americans couldn’t get jobs in tech because foreigners took all of them? I’d be surprised if it’s true because, at any given point, there are hundreds of thousands of unfilled jobs in tech,” Masad wrote.
Genuinely curious: Are there actual instances where qualified native born Americans couldn’t get jobs in tech because foreigners took all of them?
— Amjad Masad (@amasad) December 25, 2024
I’d be surprised if it’s true because at any given point there are hundreds of thousands of unfilled jobs in tech.
Musk responded, emphasising the persistent scarcity of top-tier engineering talent in the US. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley,” he noted.
There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 25, 2024
Sriram Krishnan appointment sparks social media debate
The exchange comes amid social media uproar over Indian-American Sriram Krishnan’s appointment as a senior policy advisor on AI by President-elect Donald Trump.
While many, including Musk, have praised the decision, others argue that foreign workers, particularly those on H-1B visas, often accept lower wages, allegedly disadvantaging American employees.
Musk also highlighted the fallacy of viewing job opportunities as a "fixed pie," explaining that the potential for creating new jobs and companies is effectively limitless. “Think of all the things that didn’t exist 20 or 30 years ago!” he remarked.
The “fixed pie” fallacy is at the heart of much wrong-headed economic thinking.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 24, 2024
There is essentially infinite potential for job and company creation.
Think of all the things that didn’t exist 20 or 30 years ago! https://t.co/w7naC0Sb5E
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