The U.S. is out of techies again. That's what high-tech companies say, anyway. How can they tell? They've already used up this fiscal year's quota of visas permitting skilled foreigners -- mostly high-tech types -- to work in the U.S. It's the third year in a row that the quota has been used up before Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. This year's cap of 115,000 is double that of fiscal year 1998.

If you're desperately seeking techies, just hang on till next year. On July 27, Senator Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) introduced the 'New Workers for Economic Growth Act,' boosting the H-1B visa cap to 200,000 for fiscal years 2000 through 2002. Representative David Dreier (R-Calif.) introduced a matching bill last week in the House. Passage is a "top priority" of the GOP High-Tech task force.

But even 200,000 foreign workers won't make much difference to small tech companies competing with the big guys for skilled staff. According to Dreier, there are now 340,000 unfilled tech positions in the U.S., and the situation won't get much better as long as the economy keeps chugging along. So what about training more homegrown techies?

"The bill's about visas, not education," retorts a Gramm spokesman. And if the Gramm-Drier bill doesn't pass? It's time to get serious about those training programs, American entrepreneurs. Or find a lot more room in your budgets for signing bonuses.

By Erin Ellis in New York
erin_ellis@businessweek.com