Posted on 06/23/2013 6:06:17 AM PDT by Kaslin
It's tough to find a job everywhere: in the US, in China, in Europe, and in India.
Think education is the answer? I don't.
Economic Times reports amillion engineers in India struggling to get placed in an extremely challenging market
Somewhere between a fifth to a third of the million students graduating out of India's engineering colleges run the risk of being unemployed. Others will take jobs well below their technical qualifications in a market where there are few jobs for India's overflowing technical talent pool. Beset by a flood of institutes (offering a varying degree of education) and a shrinking market for their skills, India's engineers are struggling to subsist in an extremely challenging market.Engineers Churned Out in Spades
According to multiple estimates, India trains around 1.5 million engineers, which is more than the US and China combined. However, two key industries hiring these engineers -- information technology and manufacturing -- are actually hiring fewer people than before.
For example, India's IT industry, a sponge for 50-75% of these engineers will hire 50,000 fewer people this year, according to Nasscom. Manufacturing, too, is facing a similar stasis, say HR consultants and skills evaluation firms.
According to data from AICTE, the regulator for technical education in India, there were 1,511 engineering colleges across India, graduating over 550,000 students back in 2006-07. Fuelled by fast growth, especially in the $110 billion outsourcing market, a raft of new colleges sprung up -- since then, the number of colleges and graduates have doubled.
How is [the situation in China] different than the average liberal arts major in the US expecting the world at their doorstep just because they have a useless degree that prepares them to do nothing more than work as a part-time retail clerk, 25 hours a week, dumped into the Obamacare system?If education was the answer, there would not be millions of engineers looking for jobs.
Yet, we are told education is the answer, without ever addressing the questions "for who? at what cost? in what field?"
These articles were purportedly about China. Change the names and faces and the stories are not much different than you can find right here in the US, in Italy, in France, or anywhere else in a slow-grow global economy.
After growing at an astronomical rate for years, the cost of education is going to plunge. Job statistics will force that outcome.
American companies need to hire Americans.
Period.
For 30 years we have been sending American jobs overseas, to foreigners.
Enough!
They are training lots of engineers, without regard for whether the students really have any aptitude to become a good engineer.
Welcome to the free market for labor. Supply and demand is a beotch.
The solution is NOT more H1B visas!!!!!!
Yes, Americans first!
But, I disagree with this article. It all depends on your specialty. If you are a Petroleum or Chemical Engineer and you willing and able to relocate to a free state (think Texas or North Dakota, etc), you will be able to get a job pretty quick.
Once Obamacare kicks in why wouldn’t U.S. companies send these jobs oversees rather than hire someone here?
Engineer ping
I got it! Let’s import more unskilled labor from third world countries.
That’s because they hand out engineering degrees and doctorates in India like candy and we import these idiots.
But it’s OK - I make a ton of money fixing their crapola software
I'm in the industry, and I have not observed this. Software people get the same rates here, whether they are foreign nationals or domestic citizens.
Specialization matters. Demand for engineers depends on subject. Don’t expect an optical engineer to design sewer systems.
How is that putting Americans first? I don’t think the answer in the long-term is the H1-B visa. The answer is for American schools to produce more qualified Engineers and fewer Psychology grads.
“Once Obamacare kicks in why wouldn’t U.S. companies send these jobs oversees rather than hire someone here?”
We pay Chinese works in China 1/3 of American workers without fear of Obamacare. You can bet the practice will increase quickly.
While this is true, I have two observations:
One: Unless the Indian national assimilates to our culture and business customs, they don't do well. The cultural differences are too great.
Two: The Indians I have worked with have been quite skilled, but perhaps this is a minority. I do know that India has very severe corruption problems, so paper credentials are not a useful gauge of their skill.
If people were using their own money to buy their college education, more of them would choose to study something that would help them earn a living. As long as they're spending OPM, why not major in Underwater Basketweaving?
Two nations with the world’s largest populations have been producing more engineers than they needed for years, with the idea that many would be used to syphon off jobs from more advanced nations, both through plant relocations and the outsourcing of jobs where the engineer can do the work from distant locations.
Now the jobs aren’t there for all the engineers being produced in India and China, and there’s probably no scenario where growth in the near future will create a need for the excess.
We, as a country, have big problems in the Universities. In studying for my Masters in CS, I saw that 90 percent of my classmates were 90% from India or China, etc — not good at all. In one basic class, Systems Analysis and Design, we had 21 students. All but 2 were foreign nationals. So, I understand your point first hand.
I think it means companies can hire engineers from India or Russia who remain in India or Russia for 1/3 of the cost of a US worker.
I should add that during the past few years, companies are returning to the US to manufacture goods (or at least part of the assembly). The supply chain was getting to long and costly (contacts, monitoring workers in China and so forth).
correction: aw that 90 percent of my classmates were 90% from India or China = 90% of my classmates were from China/India
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