Investor's Business Daily Tuesday January 20, 11:25 am ET By Brian Deagon The National Science Board and a think tank of tech executives recently warned that the economic vitality of America is threatened by a lack of U.S. graduates in science and engineering. Also, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says demand for science and engineering workers will increase three times faster than all job categories this decade. Eighty-six percent of those jobs - 2.2 million - will be in the computer field. Yet unemployment in engineering occupations rose in the third quarter of 2003, say BLS data. The unemployment rate was 6.7%, up from 6.4% in the second quarter and five times higher than it was in 2000. George McClure, chairman of career and work force policy at the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, says there are several reasons for the disparity. For starters, the BLS was wrong the last time it projected job demand for engineers. The BLS updates its job forecast every two years. The last time it made projections, "it was way off," said McClure. "Their crystal ball isn't much better than the rest of ours." To be sure, these are still tough times in tech. Despite the recent increase in U.S. employment overall, the tech industry is still losing jobs - down 3.9% in November. The good news is that the rate of job losses has been slowing since peak unemployment levels reported last February. Also, tech jobs are being added in fields such as computer system design, which suggests firms are stepping up innovation and planning. But McClure is not pleased. He points offshore, where firms such as IBM, Dell and Yahoo are hiring engineers by the truckload. Researchers say the cost of hiring an engineer in India is one-fifth the amount of hiring his U.S. counterpart. Some U.S. engineers say they are having a tough time finding work because the U.S. government has let 900,000 foreign engineers work in this country since 2000. The number of visas issued is down sharply, especially since 9-11, but McClure says foreign hiring has taken its toll. He says foreign-born engineers who have worked in the U.S. are being lured back home, where U.S. companies are now hiring. "You can't retrain an engineer for a job that's moved offshore. Those jobs are gone forever," he said. The National Science Board and the Computer Systems Policy Project have voiced concerns about the increased reliance on foreign workers and jobs moving offshore. But they are more concerned other countries are doing more to educate their work force, making them more competitive with the U.S. Indeed, Carly Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel, defended their use of offshore labor when the CSPP unveiled its report, "Choose to Compete," on Jan. 7. It's a natural evolution of business, they said. The bigger issue, say the NSB and CSPP, is that America may be losing ground to foreign nations that are doing a better job of educating their youth in science and engineering. As a result, they are better able to compete against American ingenuity and innovation. If the U.S. is to maintain its global leadership, it must ramp up its science, mathematics and engineering training, these groups say. The National Science Board, which began its study in 2002, concludes that U.S. strength in education and innovation is threatened by two major trends. Global competition for science and engineering talent is intensifying, and the number of U.S.-born graduates in these fields is likely to drop. "There has been a steady decline in the number of U.S. graduates in these fields," said Joseph Miller, a member of the National Science Board and the chief technology officer at Corning Inc. There were 295,000 U.S. graduates in science and engineering fields in 2001, down from 330,000 in 1995. Meanwhile, the number of foreign-born engineers working in the U.S. has been steadily rising. Whereas in years past the U.S. could rely on foreign-born engineers to fill shortfalls - such as during the tech boom - those workers might not be so available if they return home to work. The NSB doesn't know why the U.S. is producing fewer engineering graduates. "Our students perform comparatively well in math and science up through the fourth grade," said Miller. "After that, there is a decline in interest and ability." Even worse, he said, "When our young people enter college, they have a multitude of careers they can pursue. Science and engineering are rigorous and competitive, so many end up looking elsewhere." The NSB, in its report, called on the federal government to direct more financial support to students and universities. For students, that would mean more scholarships and financial aid for those who study science engineering. The group wants the federal government to help universities expand science and engineering programs. Emerging fields such as biomedicine and nanotechnology are future drivers of the American economy, just as computers and networking were in the '90s, says Miller. "Having a well-trained and well-equipped science and engineering work force is the basis for our economic well-being," he said.
No it doesn't, and you don't know Jack! Jobs and Common Knowledge (JACK). Evidently you're one of those wanna-be tech guys, and not a real tech guy, who has had to pass an interview, or qualify for a job, or survive on those skills in the face of foreign competition. What happens in the job formation process are the qualifiers, and part of those job qualifiers will be those who already have had experience over 1 year in technologies that have just been released 1 month ago. Go figure, but that's real world scenario. Companies don't train anymore, and don't want you to learn on the job, hence, they have no patience for anyone, let alone anyone who has the experience from the predecessor technologies. Chicken beore the egg, egg without scrambling, eggs without yokes, who cares, but your assumptions are just that. Hey, you don't know Jack!
Agreed. Especially regarding why there is such a lack of interest in engineering sciences among US youth. The ambitious smart students go for business and law because that is where the money is. Also some medical. Starting salaries of engineers are very nice but the future potential profit curve is nothing like if you became a banker or a lawyer.
Maybe the supposed lack of interest in engineering is that its easier to be a lawyer, banker, etc.. Who wants to plow through Lagrange multipliers on a Friday night ?
.... ITs more interesting but probably not the best choice for the smartest US students: as was said elsewhere, there is more money and job security in other fields. The average tenure for an engineer at any company is 18 months. This is the average project time for most engineering projects. At the conclusion of projects companies re-evaluate their costs and jetison extra cost employees. They rarely provide any training so that the employees can move onto the next project. If there is not an exact skills match they are let go. In the meantime the employee who was on a project for 18 months was provided no skills updating and unless they were on a truly remarkable project they are out of date. If the company downsizes them will have a difficult time getting a new job. Sad but true. Given this reality why would anyone want to be in engineering ? I think US students have observed these realities and choosen with their feet. The IEEE and APS keep painting pictures of future labor shortages, negelecting to mention that the shortages are artificial and based upon the lack of graduate level trained engineers and scientists willing to work for 15.00 - 20.00 per hour after haviing paid for all their training and in some cases having nearly 100,000 dollars of debt.
I don't mind more bankers or doctors, but I feel that there are too many lawyers with frivolous law suits. A strong legal system is needed to promote business, but too many law suits can also be a bane. I hope the medical reform bill against frivolous lawsuits is passed. Maybe then will want-to-be lawyers try to add to the productiveness of the American economy.
"has let 900,000 foreign engineers work in this country since 2000" well, lets draw on our trading theories what happens to salaries and employment when you dump 900,000 foreign employees on the market in 3 years (since 2000)? this is why engineering/tech/IT stinks opportunity and compensation are EVERYTHING when it comes to job satisfaction, and tech workers have been hammered harder than any group ever has by government policy any field would stink if you dumped that many bodies onto the wage, including medicine