2. Read and translate the text.

OPEN THE GATES WIDE TO HIGH-SKILL IMMIGRANTS

Nowhere have labor-market conditions been tighter than in the information-technology sector. Since 1993, this sector has added more than one million net new jobs with wages that are on average about three-quarters higher than the rest of the economy. The unemployment rates for information-technology workers, including electrical engineers, computer scientists, and programmers, are below 2%, forcing regional employers to mount national searches to fill open positions.

In part, the strong demand for information-technology workers reflects the economy’s overall strength. Efforts to head off Y2K problems also intensified the search for such workers. But it`s a mistake to conclude that the increase in demand for computer scientists, systems analysts, and computer programmers is temporary.

Spending on information technologies has risen steadily since 1992 and now accounts for more than half of total business spending on producer-durable equipment. According to a recent Commerce Dept. report, the nation will require at least 1.3 million new information-technology workers over the next decade to create new systems. More will be needed to operate them.

As a result of the intense scramble to hire information-technology workers, the number of special visas for skilled foreign workers available for this year has already been used up. The President`s Administration initially opposed an increase in the number of these visas because of concerns about possible negative effects on American workers through immigration.

But a recent study indicates that immigration of information-technology workers has a positive economic impact. A detailed analysis of Silicon Valley`s experience over the past 20 years demonstrates that such immigrants have been a major source new job and wealth creation, bringing skills, creativity, capital, and links with global markets to the region.

Today, immigrants account for at least one-third of the scientific and engineering workforce in the Valley and occupy senior executive positions in at least one-quarter of its new technology companies. Many have advanced degrees in computer science and engineering fields in which the number of degrees granted by US universities to American students has been declining.

Over time, employment opportunities in information-technology will stimulate more American students to acquire the necessary skills. They will be helped by the numerous educational initiatives of the Administration, including programs to upgrade basic skills in math, science, and reading in primary and secondary schools; to increase college enrollment rates; and to provide retraining. State and local governments are responding to the skill demands of the new economy, often working with private companies to develop youth apprenticeship programs. Numerous companies in the information-technology sector have introduced their own programs to attract and train students for information-technology jobs.

For many programming jobs, the necessary skills can be acquired in a matter of months. For others, however, it lasts years and requires substantial improvements in math and science education even before college. In the meantime, immigrants who possess the requisite skills should be allowed – indeed encouraged – to fill the gap.

Conditions in the information-technology sector indicate that it`s time to raise the cap on special visas yet again and to provide room for further increases. Silicon Valley`s experience reveals that the results will be more jobs and higher incomes for both American and immigrant workers.