Comments on: My, My America Has Lots of Unemployed Engineers https://barelyablog.com/my-my-america-has-lots-of-unemployed-engineers/ by ilana mercer Wed, 02 Apr 2025 19:29:09 +0000 hourly 1 By: Aeoli Pera https://barelyablog.com/my-my-america-has-lots-of-unemployed-engineers/comment-page-1/#comment-22052 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:52:25 +0000 http://barelyablog.com/?p=48224#comment-22052 Ilana,

I think this data, combined with your perspective on the H1-B fiasco, would make for an excellent weekly column. Please consider it.

Dennis,

In order to hire from the H1-B pool, a company must pretend to consider American applicants.

]]> By: Mari Tyers https://barelyablog.com/my-my-america-has-lots-of-unemployed-engineers/comment-page-1/#comment-22046 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:22:31 +0000 http://barelyablog.com/?p=48224#comment-22046 And people wonder why Millenials don’t go into Engineering? It’s lots of hard work during college, then a tough job market with high unemployment rates afterwards. It is much more profitable to go into medicine or law. (At least they won’t be outsourced!)

[Medicine and law are easier; rote learning rather than applying the laws of mathematics and physics to solve problems daily. Doctors have to muster only the most rudimentary math—or is it chemistry?—and the affirmatives get away with opting out, no doubt.]

]]> By: Myron Pauli https://barelyablog.com/my-my-america-has-lots-of-unemployed-engineers/comment-page-1/#comment-22043 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:57:08 +0000 http://barelyablog.com/?p=48224#comment-22043 The numbers might be a bit large and they might include “data entry specialists” as “engineers” (I judge all social statistics with a grain of salt) but the so-called engineering shortage is a hoax for sure.

This website says that there are 50 – 200 applicants per faculty job at Universities and over half go to foreigners (after all, why have a professor in an American University who speaks English!!??):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_born

plus the foreign born out-earn American born.

]]> By: james huggins https://barelyablog.com/my-my-america-has-lots-of-unemployed-engineers/comment-page-1/#comment-22042 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:46:15 +0000 http://barelyablog.com/?p=48224#comment-22042 OBama’s figures. Well, figures lie and liars figure.

]]> By: John Danforth https://barelyablog.com/my-my-america-has-lots-of-unemployed-engineers/comment-page-1/#comment-22039 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:24:02 +0000 http://barelyablog.com/?p=48224#comment-22039 A degree, especially a graduate degree, qualifies one to work in the public sector in the vast majority of cases (meaning someplace where results aren’t measured in the failure of the company if performance isn’t achieved).
Sadly, in my field at least formal education beyond a certain point is a negative predictor for competency. There are exceptions but they are vanishingly rare. For us, the rule is produce or die, and you’d better come up with a better way to do it than your larger competitors or you won’t even get considered for any work. Academia simply cannot fathom such conditions and teaches the wrong ‘life lessons’ in most cases. Too bad for us all.

]]> By: Dennis https://barelyablog.com/my-my-america-has-lots-of-unemployed-engineers/comment-page-1/#comment-22037 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:29:52 +0000 http://barelyablog.com/?p=48224#comment-22037 Per a conversation with an Automotive Engineer friend in Detroit, Engineering positions are available and employment in that sector is increasing.

Seek and yee shall find!

]]>