From Robert Charette, An Engineering Career: Only a Young Person’s Game?:

Mark Zukerberg, CEO of Facebook, who is one of many high tech employers pushing for more H-1B visas, reflects the prevailing attitude when he stated both that, “Our policy is literally to hire as many talented engineers as we can find. The whole limit in the system is that there aren’t enough people who are trained and have these skills today,” and “I want to stress the importance of being young and technical. Young people are just smarter. Young people just have simpler lives. We may not own a car. We may not have family. Simplicity in life allows you to focus on what’s important.”

As Zukerberg indicates, a highly desirable “skill” in young engineers and computer professionals is their perceived willingness to work longer and harder than older workers who usually have families, as well as their perceived willingness to relocate. Obviously, all that extra work leaves little time for disciplined study and thought to stay current beyond today’s belief of “what’s important.”

Shorter Zukerberg:  Younger workers are easier to exploit.

The corollary for H-1B visa holders:  The ones from low wage countries are nice and compliant because they know that if they get all uppity and demand prevailing wage then you can just ship them back to where they came from sack them and leave them stranded with no means of support – maybe even sue them for some trumped up employment contract violation.  Bottom line, they’re extortable.

(BTW, Charette’s articles for IEEE are excellent.  I have yet to read a loser.)