Conjuring a High-Tech Labor Shortage

[limpyhobbler]

by Stan Sorscher

We hear two views about the high-tech work force.

On one hand, employers warn of a dire labor shortage. On the other, recent high-tech graduates can’t find jobs. Many face crushing student loans that they may never pay off. Mid-career high-tech workers are steadily being let go. Discouraged mid-career workers take lower-paid service jobs after months of searching for a job as good as the one they lost.

Employers get plenty of applications, but they can’t find “qualified workers.” Peter Cappelli, at the Wharton School studied this situation. He finds that employers are hiring more selectively, looking for the ideal match. It’s not enough to be able to do the job. Employers want someone already doing that exact job.

I am reminded of one employer, desperate for an engineer with several years of experience with 2.2 GHz antennas. All the employer could find were applicants with experience at 1.9 GHz.
...

via http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/conjuring-a-high-tech-labor-shortage/

[Fumesucker]

1. The end of the piece is telling

Microsoft and countless other employers are making a conscious business decision to commoditize work, and turn to the labor market to satisfy their precise demand, just-in-time.

But if, as a result, they have a “problem” with labor shortage, it’s a problem of their own making.

[SharonAnn]

7. And with H1-B visa employees, the employees are chained to the corporation.

They have permission to be ONLY to work for that employer. They can't look for a better job or a better-paying job. If they "push back" at bad working conditions or pay then the company can terminate them which terminates the visa.

It's a kind of slavery.

[supernova]

2. My last IT job was in 2008

six-month contract. Before that I had a job from 2004-2006. Before that, 1999-2002. Different departments with. the. same. employer.

IT is not a stable field to work in anymore. I went to tech school last summer and am now starting my own business in a completely different field.

I feel sorry for anyone who is still deluded that they can make a life and a career in corporate america and in IT in particular.

[DavidDvorkin]

3. Then there's the absurdity of age discrimination in IT

I was lucky enough to be able to retire after my last layoff, when I was 65. If not for my being able to do that, I'd have been in real trouble.

[supernova]

5. That's why I'm now a business owner

I'm now 50 and I didn't see being able to "beat the clock" with employers for that much longer. Thought I might as well make the switch while I still have the energy and drive. More to the point, I don't want anybody telling me when I might have the privilege of working on any given day.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. I was luckier than most for many years

I've been laid off fairly often, and I always managed to find another job, in most cases a better one than the one I'd lost. But the last time, I could tell that my luck had run out, so I gave up.

[MAD Dave]

4. Not just IT

This is very common in other fields as well. I am a Bachelors degree chemist. This happens daily for me and others I know.

[PETRUS]

8. K&R

[antigop]

9. sadly, not many people on DU care. Thanks for posting. K&R. nt

[limpyhobbler]

14. ..

Maybe it's one of those things where people really understand it better once it happens to them personally or someone in their family.

[antigop]

15. "empathy deficit"

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/04/can-science-explain-barack-obamas-empathy-deficit/

[antigop]

10. and this is why the Dems are exposed in 2014. Engineers/IT workers are losing good paying jobs.

Thousands of people have had their jobs outsourced.

<edit to add> And the economy will not get better if the outsourcing continues.

[Brigid]

11. "Dire labor shortage" my ass.

They just don't want to train anyone; they'd rather leave the job vacant. A 1.9 Gh antenna as opposed to a 2.2? Are they really that different? Is it really that hard to show somebody with experience with one how to deal with the other? This is just an excuse to hire more HB1 visa workers for less.

[limpyhobbler]

13. yep.

They don't want to train at all.

And they don't want to make any kind commitment to their workers. They want disposable people.

[Thor_MN]

12. It extends to manufacturing as well

Companies will buy high tech equipment, the firm selling it trains select existing employees, allowing reduced staffing. Then when inevitable turnover occurs, the company gripes when they can't find someone with skills on that exact machine. The total cost of high tech equipment doesn't seem to include training in the minds of CEOs. In their short sighted outlook, they would rather hire someone from another country whose resume is total BS, than hire a domestic close math who admits they may need a couple weeks to get up to speed.