Posted on 07/08/2009 9:20:44 AM PDT by Zathras
WASHINGTON — U.S. engineering unemployment soared to a record in the second quarter of 2009, nearly doubling on a quarterly basis to 8.6 percent, the IEEE-USA said Tuesday (July 7), citing government figures.
The previous quarterly record for joblessness among U.S. electrical and electronic engineers was 7 percent, reached in October 2003.
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| EE unemployment previously peaked in 2003. (Source: Ron Hira) |
To me about 2/3 are liberal. Many THINK they are conservative until you start getting into details with them.
Fortunately the candidate had another offer and was still able to move into an employed position, they were currently unemployed. I’ve been on both sides and don’t appreciate people jerking me around so I try not to do it to others.
Can't do that with my job ... I'm a chip designer not an IT guy :
It takes YEARS of experience to do my job. Entry level would NOT cut it.
You can't design a chip without the stuff I design in it ... it can't be cut out
I have trained my replacement before ... it took over a year with an experienced H1B
H1Bs are NOT American workers and NOT protected ... send them home
“This is the sort of stuff Lenin was talking about when he said that capitalists would sell him the rope he used to hang them.”
And the sort of stuff that some of us on FR have been posting about for years. At first we were ridiculed. Then the attacks got to be more personal and vicious.
Now, it’s gotten strangely quiet.
Bullcrap. Name a skill and you'll find an American with that skill. H1Bs are imported for lower costs.
Yeah, well, eventually reality has a way of asserting its traditional dominance over ideology.
Respectfully ... if you are not in the industry (not you personally) ... you do NOT know what your talking about. If you want to what’s really going on in the electronics industry and your not in the industry I would suggest you refrain from commenting on something you know very little about (except for asking questions) and just sit back and listen to those of us who do ...
Total ... absolute ... BULLCRAP. I could rattle off a dozen fellow highly skilled highly educated AMERICAN engineers who have been displaced by H1Bs ... right off the top of my head
“Like sands through an hourglass...”
“But its starting to look better in a couple of months!!!” (???!!!???huh???)
I keep hearing that, but my cynical guard is holding strong!!!
Good thing I am a really likable guy...Otherwise I’m screwed...;-)
LOL! Is there a particular reason why you chose to respond like an obnoxious potty-mouth, other than that your poor mother failed to teach you good manners?
Most H-1B's are hired because they are CHEAP!
OK, let's assume that's the case, and that they're cheaper than comparable Americans. It's most likely that the former H-1B jobs would be outsourced, rather than given to the more-expensive Americans. Especially since the outsourced engineers would be far closer to the manufacturing side of the equation.
In any event, I stand by my prediction that the unemployment rate here would be unlikely to change much if the H1B folks were let go.
Are you in the industry ?
..subtle...hehehe, I like it!!!
OK, fine. Suppose they were sent back home. Do you think the companies would rehire the Americans, or would they merely hire the same or similar engineer overseas? You know the answer to that -- it'd go overseas, in the same way those jobs did that explain the 8.6% unemployment rate.
No, but my neighbor is. I got the impression from him that the foreigners in his group were hired mainly for needed skills. Cost may have entered into the decisions, of course, but they needed the skills.
Could be worse...
I knocked 'em dead at my last interview. Knew their product inside and out (I developed the process for the company that they bought out). Hit it off well with everyone. Passed everything with flying colors, then...
Nothing
Come to find out that their biggest (90%) customer bounced that month's check on them, and then blandly assured them that they would have no further business for them for a full year!
The company promptly folded. Dammit.
I said much the same thing.....until the company that outsourced my behind didn't bother to replace it when I quit the "outsourcer". There were 12 on my team when I was there, circa '04. The last I heard, about a year ago, was that there were 3, along with a couple of the aforementioned overworked new guys that come through on a constantly rotating basis. And, I should add, that there's a reason why the three who are left couldn't find a different job. :-)
The company just didn't replace us as we left. And frankly, I wasn't in a "fluff" job.....Infrastructure isn't something that you can cut....at least if you want servers, email, manufacturing equipment, phones, etc to work for you. Regardless of manufacturer's claims, things do break.
My guess is that the company is just doing the absolute bare minimum to get by....break/fix only, with no new projects, acquisitions, or initiatives. I know that (again, as of last year) a couple of systems that I put in around 1999 or 2000 were still in use, without any changes made to them. I'm sure that the server guys who are there say a short prayer every time they pass by my old servers....those have got to be some tired boxes.
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