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Trying Times for U.S. Engineers
Pages 109-118

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From page 109...
... members. NEW ECONOMY WORKFORCE UTILIZATION PRACTICES ARE PUTTING AMERICAN ENGINEERS AT RISK One of IEEE-USA's principal concerns is that recent increases in engineering unemployment may not be a short term, cyclical phenomenon, but the result of a much more fundamental structural change in engineering utilization that could have a long-term negative impact on our nation's security and economy.
From page 110...
... 2,500 O 2,000 o o c ~ I) 0 u, ° by o c 10.0 5.0 0.0 Engineering Employment: 1992 - Present 1992 1 993 100 50 o 1 1992 1 993 1994 1 995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Engineers ~ Electrical Engineers Engineering Unemployment: 1992 - Present 2000 2001 02Q1 02Q2 02Q3 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Engineers ~ Electrical Engineers ~ Computer Science Percent Unemployed: 1992 - Present 02Q2 02Q3 1 r T T T r r T 1 T r r 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 02Q1 02Q2 02Q3 ~ AllWorkers ~ Engineers ~ Electrical Engineers []
From page 111...
... THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PIPELINE AND THE RISK OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES IEEE-USA is greatly concerned that policies designed to expand the workforce based on unsubstantiated claims of shortages will create a selffulfilling prophecy as high school and college students perceive that the reality of an engineering career means periodic unemployment, career insecurity, and flat or declining compensation. In the past, U.S.
From page 112...
... engineering and related degrees do not offer enough benefits to warrant the more rigorous curriculum. Artificial manipulations of the supply-demand cycle, management practices that devalue engineering careers, and inadequately supported projections of job demand all serve to discourage students from electing careers in engineering.
From page 113...
... workforce that attracts and retains America's best and brightest by delivering rewarding scientific and engineering careers. Therefore, IEEE-USA recognizes that there is a need to have a welleducated, technically literate public and that we also need to educate, retain, and reward capable people at all levels, including support for · talented, motivated engineers and computer scientists, including women, minority, handicapped, and older Americans; · continuing education programs that address lifelong employment needs of the engineering workforce; .
From page 114...
... IEEE-USA believes that instead of providing a short-term remedy for spot skill shortages, the H-1B visa has become widely used by employers as a reduced-cost probationary employment program for foreign professionals and students seeking work sponsorship for legal permanent resident status. These professionals and new graduates are willing to trade lower salaries and a temporary work status for the ability to enter and/or .
From page 115...
... program is a benefit to their employers, enabling them to get workers at a lower wage, and to that extent, it is a subsidy." IEEE-USA also believes that the labor condition attestation requirements established to safeguard jobs, wages, and working conditions in the United States are weak and unenforceable; and that the H-1B program, like other "guest worker" programs, is subject to fraud and abuse. And because H-1B workers are dependent on their employers to sponsor the much sought after legal permanent resident status, there is significant potential for improper exploitation of these workers with respect to wages, hours, and living conditions.
From page 116...
... · How to reconcile fundamental economic laws of supply and demand with the special interest pleadings of powerful political constituencies · How to minimize the unintended consequences of targeted government interventions, like the H-1B visa program, that often distort labor market supply and demand balancing mechanisms, depress wages, and increase unemployment. Our engineering workforce policy recommendations include the folLifelong Learning · Commit to a substantial, long-term collaborative effort to improve the access to and the quality of continuing education opportunities for employed, underemployed, unemployed, and recently displaced engineers and scientists.
From page 117...
... population (supply) of engineers and computer scientists; reliable population of unemployed and underemployed engineers and computer scientists; inventory of high demand knowledge and skills requirements and identified training for satisfying skills requirements, employment and retraining opportunities, types and levels of compensation, and available financial assistance · Better statistics on educational and employment-based visa holders, including countries of origin, educational attainment, profession or occupation, age and sex, sponsorship, and levels of compensation · More effective means for assessing the validity and reliability of international comparisons of pre-college student achievement.
From page 118...
... · Encourage employers to decrease our national dependence on temporary skilled professionals and other knowledge workers by retraining the present workforce and/or hiring holders of permanent resident visas. Undergraduate and Graduate Education · Increase the cost-effectiveness and relevance of technical and professional science, engineering, and technology education programs at America's accredited colleges and universities; · Increase support for stipends and assistantships that will enable more U.S.


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