Google chief says China's huge pool of young talent will spur Internet innovation

AP / IHT ^ | November 27, 2007

[cinives]

While your observations are correct to a point, I know of a lot of talented youngsters in high school doing very well in calculus and such who will not consider engineering or computer science because the likelihood of losing their job by their mid-30s to outsourcing or H1B visa holders is very real and obvious.

When Bell Labs closed a bunch of their sites in the early 90s, the most of the laid-off engineers and physics/chemical engineering PhDs who were current on the latest technology and up to date academically in their fields could not find jobs in a similar position. All the companies wanted younger people, or wanted to pay seasoned, highly talented workers near entry level wages - coincidentally the same wages they were paying their H1B workers.

Sorry, I’ve seen it firsthand, and talked to the kids of today who are talented. Every single one mentions the job market and the competition from foreigners working here. I know quite a few people over the age of 40 with computer science degrees and up-to-date on certifications in java, C++, .net etc etc and they can’t even get a callback for a job.

Until companies find it in their best interest to make a commitment to Americans, they will have a restricted supply.

[DaGman]

All very true. I’ve met a lot of talented kids too (including 3 of my own). And yes, their concerns are valid. But, there is still a void in math based sciences that cannot be filled domestically. H1B’s were originally used to fill that void as charles m says. But now H1B’s are flat being abused. I wish I had kept a link to the article I read somewhere that talks about seminars for employers that want to hire H1B’s. They describe how to be very specific in the job description so that they can’t find anyone here to fill the job and must hire an H1B. And, always at a much lower salary. This way the company fulfills the requirements of looking for and disqualifying everyone here so they “have” to hire an H1B.

[cinives]

Yeah, I viewed that link, and I personally have experienced the process. I have a number of colleagues who, once they hit 40, are virtually ignored in the job market despite impressive skills and experience - companies just don’t want to pay American wages. Pure horsehockey. I despise the companies which engage in it. Defense firms would rather hire Chinese engineers, who are likely to steal technology to send home to China, than Americans.

I agree there’s a void in the maths and sciences that was not there 20 years ago. Schools are killing math talent by handing out calculators in 3rd grade and teaching fuzzy feel-good math. One friend lost his job of 22 years as an Associate Physics professor to departmental infighting, and decided to teach at the high school level. The guy is seriously talented in math, physics and chemistry, ran the University’s observatory, and is an experienced teacher. He had to take the bs Ed courses for a year, then the school that hired him had him teaching geography and geometry. A major loss to the students - the guy should have been teaching upper level math and science classes. He quit after three years of putting up with the petty jealousies of the math/science department chair at the high school - a man whose B.A. degree was in history but who’d been at the school for 28 years.