Thread: Jobs: Death of U.S. Engineering

Jobs Update: The Death of U.S. Engineering
by Paul Craig Roberts
Posted Jun 07, 2006

The May payroll jobs report released June 2 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms the jobs pattern for the 21st century U.S. economy: Employment growth is limited to domestic services.

In May, the economy created only 67,000 private sector jobs. Job estimates for the previous two months were reduced by 37,000.

The new jobs are as follows: professional and business services, 27,000; education and health services, 41,000; waitresses and bartenders, 10,000. Manufacturing lost 14,000 jobs.

Total hours worked in the private sector declined in May. Manufacturing hours worked are 6.6 percent less than when the recovery began four-and-one-half years ago.

American economists and policymakers are in denial about the effect of jobs offshoring on U.S. employment. Corporate lobbyists have purchased fraudulent studies from economists that claim offshoring results in more U.S. employment, rather than less. The same lobbyists have spread disinformation that the United States does not graduate enough engineers and that they must import foreigners on work visas. Lobbyists are currently pushing, as part of the immigration bill, an expansion in annual H-1B work visas from 65,000 to 115,000.

The alleged "shortage" of U.S. engineering graduates is inconsistent with reports from Duke University that 30 percent to 40 percent of students in its master's of engineering management program accept jobs outside the profession. About one-third of engineering graduates from MIT go into careers outside their field. Job outsourcing and work visas for foreign engineers are reducing career opportunities for American engineering graduates and, also, reducing salary scales.
When employers allege a shortage of engineers, they mean that there is a shortage of American graduates who will work for the low salaries that foreigners will accept. Americans are simply being forced out of the engineering professions by jobs outsourcing and the importation of foreigners on work visas. Corporate lobbyists and their hired economists are destroying the American engineering professions. American engineering is also under pressure because corporations have moved manufacturing offshore. Design, research and development are now following manufacturing offshore. A country that doesn't make things doesn't need engineers and designers. Corporations that have moved manufacturing offshore fund R&D in the countries where their plants have been relocated.

Engineering curriculums are demanding. The rewards for the effort are being squeezed out by jobs offshoring and work visas. If the current policy continues of substituting foreign engineers for American engineers, the profession will die in the United States.

Mr. Roberts was associate editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page from 1978 to 1980, and from 1981 to 1982, he was assistant secretary of the treasury for economic policy.
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=15413

moosetracks,

Thanks for such an important post.

I read an article about the reason for less graduate engineers in the US. Beleive it not they say it's because the students see those type of jobs as "NERD" jobs. And they want to be "cool" not "nerds". Lol who beleives that?

I believe what the article says......our government has been duped! Corporate lobbyists using fraudulent data to insist they need more Visa workers!

WE need to send this article to all big business owners....Bill Gates, Michael Dell, etc

They will bring all the jobs back to the U.S. when they drag us down and we are finally willing to work for the same wage as the illegals.

IF that happens, GM, Ford had better sell their cars for $5000.00....not one American will be able to afford a car......you would think big business would see further into the future than they are doing.

If they are all working to depress our wages, who do they think will buy their products???

The rich will buy their cars. There will only be the rich and the poor just like mexico. No middle class. We have too much and the 3rd world doesn't have enough, they want to balance it out. Drag us down and bring them up.

Originally Posted by moosetracks

American economists and policymakers are in denial about the effect of jobs offshoring on U.S. employment. Corporate lobbyists have purchased fraudulent studies from economists that claim offshoring results in more U.S. employment, rather than less. The same lobbyists have spread disinformation that the United States does not graduate enough engineers and that they must import foreigners on work visas. Lobbyists are currently pushing, as part of the immigration bill, an expansion in annual H-1B work visas from 65,000 to 115,000.

Hi Moosetracks,

Thank you for posting that.

To find the cause, go to anti-American senators Hillary Clinton and John Cornyn - their taxpayer funded FRIENDS OF INDIA lobby organization.
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... highlight=

Did I just write "anti-American?" Damn straight, that's not a typo.

Here's Rob Sanchez article with all the documented facts:
http://www.antioffshore.org/index.php?o ... 9&Itemid=2

I think what was highlighted in red was relevant and probably the most disheartening. Economists predicted years ago that we would become a service economy. Outsourcing is also becoming a problem for many companies and in the long run it is often not cost effective. Up front it seems like a good idea (remember corporations are about the shareholders). CEO's are learning about the pitfalls.

I wish that study would have stated what type of engineers they were talking about and what they mean by working out of their field of study. Engineering students often go into a different field of engineering than they studied. Mechanical engineering jobs are tough to find, but other than that I still see the market pretty wide open.

I hate to say it and may regret it, but we have to be competitive. A company I worked for had a meeting with the CEO and he was talking about outsouricing software projects to India on a limited basis. Well, there was a lot of moaning and groaning by the employees. I was a little upset because many of these employees wouldn't work and produced very little. They had been around the company for 15 plus years and took everything for granted. I'm a capitalist and to me that means being competitive. Of course Illegal immigration brings unfair competition to the table and I don't support that.

We aren't going to stop the economy from becoming more global. Hopefully we can stop the trespassing into this country and we have an opportunity to do that. We are Americans and our forefathers, elders, and even we have done some marvelous things. We can overcome if we are willing because we can compete. All we need is for more people to become less dependent on the government and more dependent on themselves and each other.

Let's not forget that other countries bring jobs here as well. Nashville Tennessee has always been known for it's Publishing and Logistics industry. Now it is also being known for it's auto industry. Thanks to foreign car companies. BTW...they do not hire illegals

I hate to say it and may regret it, but we have to be competitive.

I am the first to say I don't understand 'global' marketing. I don't understand why people say that we just must compete or we will die. We have quite a few Americans, who if given a chance, would be very good consumers of any products we produce here. Why must we assume we must go out and garner the entire world of consumers.

When I say 'government', I mean the federal government, although our state is not much better, but it could be.


What would happen if the government stayed out of the picture in this country?

What if the government no longer gave subsidies to offshore countries 'so they could be completitive on the world market'?

What if the government no longer made sweet trade deals with foreign countries that allows cheap, shoddy merchandise to be brought into this country?

What if the government stopped the insane subsidies to big agribusiness, oil companies and the like?

What if the government didn't import cheap workers for big business?

What if the government hadn't deliberately allowed this country to be overrun by illegal aliens that compete and drive wages down? Some people are actually waking up to the fact that these are not just manual labor or chicken pluckers, they are educated workers.

What if government actually got out of the education process and allowed states and locals to make the rules, set the standards and we actually had an education system once again?

What if the government got out of the welfare process and allowed the states and locals to make the rules, set the standards, etc.?



What if the government just began doing what the constitution mandates they do, protect this country?

Can we say that America could be 'competitive' - I think it can.

We just can't compete when the federal government has its foot on the neck of the American worker - and that is what is happening right now.