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Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
"I think the best professionals love what they do and money follows them because they do it well. " I think that this is wishful thinking. But then again, you've only been here for 8 years. Given more time I think that you will see it too. Unfortunately the industry is still changing rapidly. With a $175K salary you might in fact see it sooner than others. "A lot of the people here hate all H-1Bs. The second kind of people I find in these H-1B bashing contests are people who are not in love with STEM. They are smart enough to have gotten degrees in them, but they don't have the passion for it. " For the most part, the comments that I've read here have been pretty civilized. Hatred of H-1Bs is something that I don't agree with and don't condone, but I do understand it. It's human nature for people to react that way when their their livelihoods have been jeopardized. Granted it's Corporate Greed that is the culprit, but to them, make no mistake - you're not the messenger. "I can assure you that these studs are not spending time bashing H-1Bs." This is exactly the sort of cop-out that the Corporate lobby loves to see. "Just keep them busy working with their heads down so that they can't see what's really going on". I don't expect a "stud" to bash H-1Bs, but I do expect them to be to be smart enough to recognize when their chosen profession is simultaneously being exploited and decimated at their expense.— March 15, 2011 10:56 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Indian_H1B, thanks for chiming in and confirming the shameful indentured servitude issue. I'm also sad to say that I've seen the Indian exploiting Indian dynamic that you've described. This is something that I wasn't able to understand then or now. I suppose it's probably no different from the cannibalistic policies that US companies are following that have harmed everyone while enriching the top 2%. I'm also sorry to hear that you've personally been treated poorly by the system. 8 years on a H1B is ridiculous and a good example where the system is broken. As I've stated before I think that we should welcome the true best and the brightest and for these people it's demeaning to require them to jump through hoops and paperwork for the better part of a decade. You mentioned that you make $175K+ per year and a little over what those in your category make according to Glassdoor. This would put you at close to the peak for engineering jobs. Probably Director or PE level. If so then I hate to break it to you, but you're exactly the group that Corporate America most likes to target for cost cutting. Once you get your Green Card I hope that you take a look around and see what is happening and contact your representative requesting that companies do something to advance the STEM fields, which means putting an end to the musical chairs game of massive outsourcing and insourcing of jobs. You also mentioned that other H1Bs at Qualcomm that you know are all making over $100K. According to myvisa.com, the average H1B salary at Qualcomm is just shy of $100K and well below the $134K salary of the average tech salary at Qualcomm (according to the numbers that Don posted in a previous article). Note that this doesn't include the rock bottom H1B salaries that Qualcomm is paying through job shop companies such as Mindlance.— March 15, 2011 10:19 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
I should have also added that 10 years ago is when the H1B wave at Qualcomm appeared to start which "coincidentally" seemed to coincide with the WLL and infrastructure gambits. It's grown into a tidal wave now just as, also "coincidentally", Qualcomm's investment in India has grown into a $1B bet. http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/06/13/qualcomms-… If this is indeed cause and effect, it's really disingenuous to make the claims as Qualcomm has in Don's article that: "Qualcomm utilizes the H-1B program as necessary to recruit and retain the best talent in the world. We support bipartisan, sensible reform of the employment-based immigration system so that U.S. employers continue to have access to the talent they need to innovate, create American jobs and grow the U.S. economy.”— March 15, 2011 4:50 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Ponzi, I know that you're well intentioned, but your comments come across as painting a large group of people too broadly. I have many friends who are Indian that don't fit your description. I think that in painting such a broad picture that the more important points of your message will be ignored. The wage dilution being wrought by corporate America on skilled workers also applies to Green Card holders and H-1Bs. Most of those just off the boat don't see it, but the ones that have been here for awhile do. Since these groups now represent such a large presence in the engineering community, I think that it's important to rally them to the cause rather than alienate them. Just because someone came here previously on a H1B doesn't mean that they too want to see their standard of living erased by never-ending waves of immigration.— March 15, 2011 4:11 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Speak of the devil, this just popped up a few hours ago. http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110315… He is now claiming that too much government regulation is holding back the recovery....— March 15, 2011 11:10 a.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
"When an engineer with a PhD makes $150,000 and a CEO with an MBA rakes in $15 million, the problem with today's so-called free markets become obvious. U.S. companies practice financial engineering, not product engineering." As if this wasn't bad enough, the situation has further evolved to the point that these same CEO's with an MBA look at the engineers making 1/100th the salary with disdain and call them "privileged elites" (direct quote from Greenspan). They consider us to be too expensive and that they need to drive the price of skilled wages even lower through immigration. Many times Greenspan has said exactly that and Geithner is saying it now.— March 15, 2011 10:30 a.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Incidentally, here is a great blog post that highlights the failure of most journalists to highlight the H-1B problem: http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/blogs/tennant/ye… "The moderate anti-H-1B voice needs to summon the courage to speak out directly and forcefully against those who poison the discussion – not just whisper disapproval behind closed doors. And we in the U.S. media need to suck it up, get off our butts and do our jobs. When the poison is drained and the media snaps out of its toxic stupor, then maybe something will be done about the H-1B problem." I think that this article has done a good job of doing exactly what is needed. Thanks Don!— March 14, 2011 8:12 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
What we need is a video of the heads of large tech corporations getting together to discuss their H-1B strategy. Something along the lines of the now classic Cohen & Grigsby video. If people haven't seen this then they might be in for a shock on how the system is being worked in order to avoid hiring Americans: http://www.youtube.com/programmersguild— March 14, 2011 7:53 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
Not only that but the boards of most companies contain mostly banker types. This drives them to make decisions that seem to be correct financially but contain technical risks that most people in engineering management would point out in a second. A perfect example of this was the decision by the bean counters at Boeing to drive outsourcing of their 787 Dreamliner. Rather than realizing that the reason that Boeing exists is because of their own expertise in the design and manufacture of Jets. In a surprisingly transparent interview the head of their airplane group said that: "We spent a lot more money in trying to recover than we ever would have spent if we'd tried to keep the key technologies closer to home," Albaugh told his large audience of students and faculty. Boeing was forced to compensate, support or buy out the partners it brought in to share the cost of the new jet's development, and now bears the brunt of additional costs due to the delays. Some Wall Street analysts estimate those added costs at between $12 billion and $18 billion, on top of the $5 billion Boeing originally planned to invest. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sundaybuzz/…— March 14, 2011 7:42 p.m.
Are American Engineers in Short Supply?
If you're a manager then you should also be getting paid for your communication skills. In fact, communication is one of the most important skills in management because it's important that key points are phrased in just the right way so that concepts, road-maps, issues, etc. aren't misinterpreted. A CEO once told me that, "managers are one sentence away from the end of their career" and this was some of the best, even if chilling, advice that I've ever received....— March 14, 2011 7:32 p.m.