> (translation, chef, specialty craftsman) [...] I'd imagine we WANT coming in, since they are by definition specialty and non-replaceable.
If the ostensible goal of the program is to bring in people for low-supply positions (but short of individual O-1 visas) then isn't salary a reasonable not-too-game-able way to measure that?
Potentially, but at the exclusion as I say of anyone who simply doesn't have those sort of funds. Can a local food business afford 100k+ for a chef? It appears to me that this would disallow many smaller businesses from being able to utilize specialty or cultural labor. Thus my suggestion to address violations of the intent of the law; yes, more game-able, but actually gets at the root of the problem.
This looks at demand-supply in a vacuum. You also have the other demand-supply curve: will people be willing to pay a huge premium for, say, authentic foreign cuisine? Probably not as much as would be needed to make this system work.
If the ostensible goal of the program is to bring in people for low-supply positions (but short of individual O-1 visas) then isn't salary a reasonable not-too-game-able way to measure that?