The Myth of the Science and Engineering Shortage
MICHAEL S. TEITELBAUM
Everyone knows that the United States has long suffered from widespread shortages in its science and engineering workforce, and that if continued these shortages will cause it to fall behind its major economic competitors. Everyone knows that these workforce shortages are due mainly to the myriad weaknesses of American K-12 education in science and mathematics, which international comparisons of student performance rank as average at best.
Such claims are now well established as conventional wisdom. There is almost no debate in the mainstream. They echo from corporate CEO to corporate CEO, from lobbyist to lobbyist, from editorial writer to editorial writer. But what if what everyone knows is wrong? What if this conventional wisdom is just the same claims ricocheting in an echo chamber?
The truth is that there is little credible evidence of the claimed widespread shortages in the U.S. science and engineering workforce. How can the conventional wisdom be so different from the empirical evidence? There are of course many complexities involved that cannot be addressed here. The key points, though, are these:
Science and engineering occupations are at the leading edge of economic competitiveness in an increasingly globalized world, and science and engineering workforces of sufficient size and quality are essential for any 21st century economy to prosper. These professional workforces also are crucial for addressing challenges such as international security, global climate change, and domestic and global health. While they therefore are of great importance, college graduates employed in science and engineering occupations (as defined by the National Science Foundation) actually comprise only a small fraction of the workforce.
more
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/the-myth-of-the-science-and-engineering-shortage/284359/
jsr
(7,712 posts)SharonAnn
(13,778 posts)And then you have this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/22/apple-google-wage-fixing_n_5013751.html?utm_hp_ref=technology&ir=Technology
And yet, this wasn't enough. They increased their demand for more H1-B visas so that they could hire people for even lower wages.
dickthegrouch
(3,184 posts)There's lots of us over 50, who are seemingly unhireable, who would do anything short of kill for a job.
I'm coming up on 8 months out of work. Computer Security engineering manager, too long out of coding to be hired there, and too expensive for the short-term profit (in their own pockets) crowd.
THERE IS NO SHORTAGE of highly accomplished engineers, companies just need to be willing to pay them. (No different from any other employment sector).
n2doc
(47,953 posts)I read stories, like yours, and it doesn't seem to matter what the wage is, they don't even bother to look at a resume if it is from an older worker. I think it is just pure age discrimination.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Meaning a 25-year-old "computer geek" gets paid much less than a 50-year-old "computer geek". 4-to-1 ratio is not at all unusual.
So the hiring manager assumes that if he hires a 50-year-old for the price of a 25-year-old, the 50-year-old will quit as soon as he finds a place willing to pay better. That manager is concerned the large difference makes it easy to find "better". So he won't hire the 50-year-old as "a bargain".
Additionally, a whole lot of management isn't at all technically savvy. So they will often say, "Hey, I can get 4 young geeks for the price of 1 old one. And they'll work 80 hour weeks!". Not understanding that the experience of the 50-year-old means he'll have about 10 times the output.....and that exhaustion will further reduce the young geek's output by about 30-50%.
So IMO it's not literally age discrimination, as in "Throw out grandpa's resume". But the result is the same.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)eppur_se_muova
(36,287 posts)Just pay decent wages and benefits, and every conceivable labor "shortage" will evaporate overnight.