About that "shortage" of engineers.
A revealing article recently appeared in BusinessWeek. To cut to the chase, the authors found that there is no shortage of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) graduates in the United States. Instead:
U.S. colleges and universities are graduating as many scientists and engineers as ever, according to a study released on Oct. 28 by a group of academics. But that finding comes with a big caveat: Many of the highest-performing students are choosing careers in other fields. The study by professors at Rutgers and Georgetown suggests that since the late 1990s, many of the top students have been lured to careers in finance and consulting.
"Despite decades of complaints that the United States does not have enough scientists and engineers, the data show our high schools and colleges are providing an ample supply of graduates," said study co-author Hal Salzman, a public policy professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. "It is now up to science and technology firms to attract the best and the brightest graduates to come work for them."
Hmmm... if there are enough people graduating to fill the jobs, but they aren't being filled, might it have something to do with the wage offered? Isn't that a strong argument that bringing in H1Bs actually serves to intensify the problem by lowering wages?
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sure it's not only about cheap labor
but it's also about stealing an entire business sector...
for India and China.
and it's intense! You should read some of the most brazen hate messages on many blogs against Americans...it's unreal, it's like reading statements from the 1800's against Black people in the U.S..
but it is all about moving entire sectors offshore, i.e. technology, I.T., advanced R&D and capturing it for India, China.
We have tons of very good engineers in the U.S. who cannot get a job, just laying to waste.
Yes, but our TEMPORARY GUEST
Yes, but our TEMPORARY GUEST WORKERS want to believe there is a shortage so they can convince Congress to grant them all green cards and thus become PERMANENT RESIDENTS. You had to know this was going to happen. Congress told the American people that the guest worker visas were only TEMPORARY to solve severe labor shortages but so many become PERMANENT by getting green cards.
In fact, one hilarious suggestion was that a solution to the over-supply of housing in the U.S. was to give all the guest workers a green card. Talk about arrogance:
from WSJ Presents Yet More Utter Nonsense from the National Association of Realtors
Maybe a better idea is to offer young immigrants, with cash and education, citizenship if they come and buy a house.
Remember the apocalyptic retirement bubble where the needs of the old would crush the young because of the decline in the ratio of working to retired people.
Voila`, housing and working age population thing solved.
What ? Whadaya mean there aren't enough jobs around for the current workforce, let alone an influx of foreigners. Why the company I work for can't find American workers (engineering). The place is full of green card engineers.
Timing of "Shortage of Engineers" Article
Although I'm glad that a mainstream source like BusinessWeek published this article, more stories like these seem to be coming out now only because even the most optimistic economists, politicians and journalists can tell we have an unemployment problem. This article could have easily been published two or three years ago. Even Vivek Wadwha came out with studies a few years ago saying engineering students were going into finance and marketing.
Hal Salzman has done a lot of good research on the subject in the past, and I'm glad to see he's still producing good work. It's just so discouraging that we're caught in a rut where both sides keep essentially churning out the same studies over and over again. Employer groups keep churning out reports about "shortages", and people like Salzman have to keep coming up with brand new reports just to stave off criticism that the reports they produced the previous year are obsolete.
It's True
As an EE in Silicon Valley, I have *much* experience with how H1Bs and other "guest workers" are laying waste to the ability of US citizens to get engineering jobs. I am *so sick* of hearing "we don't have talent here in the US."
It's all about cutting wages. I've been told in past jobs that me and my colleges couldn't apply for job postings because "then they wouldn't be able to bring in H1bs". This from the HR manager.
I've seen how businesses interview dozens of people, knowing full well they won't be hired because they don't match 100% a profile created to match only 1 person in the world: the person they want to bring in from India.
I've had several Indian H1Bs ask me, "How do you American's make ends meet? After paying [listing all his bills] there's no money left." I didn't have the heart to tell them they're getting paid 40% of what is necessary to live here.
Don't get me wrong, nearly every Indian, Mexican, Chinese, etc. I've met are honest, nice, polite and hard-working. They're great people. But America needs to wake up to the fact that just about anyone else in the world can do any given job as good or better than we can.
As a country, we have to realize that "cheaper at any ocst" isn't cheap in the long run. Keep giving away our jobs and this "recession" is only the beginning.
this is a no insult spin free zone
Most engineers I know are strong believers in diversity, equality and meritocracy.
But giving away U.S. jobs and then insulting people who complain and stand up for U.S. jobs, careers is absurd and just another propaganda weapon in my view.
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