Why should a college kid go to the trouble of getting an engineering degree when his job will just get outsourced within five years?
H1-bs are “internal outsourcing.” Instead of bringing the job to the foreigners, high-tech brings the foreigners to the job.
Not all engineering jobs are getting outsourced, nor can they all be outsourced. Yes, a lot of the high-tech engineering does get outsourced, but if one is comfortable with other forms of engineering, such as environmental or consulting engineering, the rewards are there.
The nice thing about these fields, too, is that these are the types of engineering jobs that can't be outsourced because the need is for someone local to be able to do the job. For instance, if a building needs a boiler replacement, the owner can't call up a tech center in East Bumblefart, India and have them send out someone to do the fieldwork, produce the bid documents, monitor the installation and provide QA/QC on the job. Believe me, engineering jobs are out here, I should know - I are one. :)
The sad fact is you don't get an engineering degree to be an engineer, it is only useful if you manage engineers, just being an "individual contributer" gets you outsourced.