A great side effect of this is that it pretty much makes H1B not viable in the Midwest or other areas where we probably ought to be trying to develop more talent
At any rate, I would like to see some empirical backing for those who want to raise H1B salaries higher than inflation adjustment.
The side effect you think is great, is actually really bad. It's not a question of developing more talent, it's the fact that people move to the coasts for jobs. All this really does is disadvantage companies not in NYC and SF, and make it more likely that they will have a labor shortage they can't make up, and pack up. This isn't reflective of anything though, except basically regional inflation (it's not simply that salaries in NYC and SF are so much higher because the companies there are the most productive and therefore deserve the H1B slots more, the salaries are partly inflated because cost of living is also super high, i.e. a dollar is worth less).
I would be very surprised if the "H1B prevailing wage" for any meaningful technical role in the SF bay area is less than $100k.
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