Report data shows strong labor market for engineers

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.csemag.com/article/CA6554327.html

-- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 4/23/2008 9:49:00 AM
Three newly published National Science Foundation (NSF) reports show increasing workforce availability of scientists and engineers, as well as a strong labor market for these professions.

According to NSF data from the Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System reports (SESTAT), individuals working in science and engineering occupations grew by 4.3%, and their unemployment rate dropped to 2.5% in 2006, the lowest unemployment rate since the early 1990s.

NSF collects data for these three reports every 2 years. Scientists and engineers are defined as people with a bachelor’s degree or higher with science, engineering, or related degrees or occupations.

Three separate national surveys make up SESTAT: National Survey of College Graduates, National Survey of Recent College Graduates, and the Survey of Doctorate Recipients. NSF will field the next round of the SESTAT surveys of scientists and engineers in fall 2008.

FULL story at link.

[BlooInBloo]

1. There's probably a strong market for all "intellectual horsepower" jobs....

... The reason so many of them have gone to indians/chinese/etc. is that Americans just don't have much of it.

[izquierdista]

2. Bullshit!

It's because they will work for far less than an American with the same "horsepower".

[BlooInBloo]

3. Just plain false. All the indians/etc. at Very Large Software Co are paid just as much...

... as I was. Same for all the chinese/etc. at Very Large Bank.

Americans are dumb. They don't, statistically, get advanced degrees in the sciences/math/eng. That needs to change. Until then, the work is still there to do, and someone is going to do it.

[izquierdista]

4. Don't kid yourself

American with advanced degrees have had their salaries eroded. Temporary faculty appointments, post-docs that go on forever, outsourcing to Russian labs, H-1Bs, offshore consulting contracts, there are many ways to avoid hiring an American born PhD with a degree from an American institution and pay someone else less.

[BlooInBloo]

5. lol. Ok. I only work there, and interview these people.

[izquierdista]

7. Wake up then

It won't hit you so hard when it happens to you. I was ready when it happened to me; I don't need to work for a salary anymore.

[BlooInBloo]

9. Wake up and hire idiot applicants? Not. No matter how "American" they are...

... People made the same argument about buying American cars - no matter how bad they were. That's just not me.

[izquierdista]

10. I'll make it real simple

One day you will get canned. (laid off, furloughed, downsized, right-sized)

No one will pay you.

They will pay someone else a lot less to do what you used to do.

Then you will understand.

[BlooInBloo]

11. Thanks prognosticator.

[arendt]

6. There are a lot of older engineers who do have the skills and the smarts...

but they are not hired because they cost too much. Its all about firing anyone with experience and hiring young people.

And, it may be true that younger Americans are not going into these tough fields. I hear from my Jewish friends (among older engineers) that all the younger Jewish folks have gone into finance or law.

arendt

[BlooInBloo]

8. Finance (of the CFA sort) counts for this convo as one of the fields in discussion.

[arendt]

12. Sorry, what is CFA?

Does it mean something like "Certified Financial Analyst"? - like the guy who tells you where to put your retirement savings?

In my book, difficult finance means like the blasted derivatives guys, and the rocket scientists who play games with Black-Scholes (mostly ex-physicists or people with hard math economics PhDs).

We have to settle on a definition of "tough". I thought you meant advanced mathematics or science.

arendt