President Blames Unemployment On Lack Of Tech Skills

IEEE ^

[Florida_Irish]

During a Wednesday morning (July 30th) press conference, President Bush was asked a question about jobs going overseas as a result of technological innovation. His response was:

"I fully understand what you're saying. In other words, as technology races through the economy, a lot of times worker skills don't keep up with technological change."

Many people have taken his response to mean that unemployment in the high-tech sector is the result of American workers who allowed their skills to become obsolete. This is an unacceptable explanation.

[Wolfie]

Horse-hooey.

[smith288]

Its called "Cheap workforce". Not lack of skills Dubya.

[samuel_adams_us]

There's more air in between those ears than meets the eye!

[mewzilla]

I hate to tell the IEEE, but it's still a part of it.

[dirtboy]

"I fully understand what you're saying. In other words, as technology races through the economy, a lot of times worker skills don't keep up with technological change."

Bush just lost several thousand tech worker votes with this line. There are millions of tech workers with more-than-adequate skills who are out of work because of H1-B and L1 visas and outsourcing. So what is the lesson to high school and college students? Work hard, get a tech degree, and look forward to a career at Home Depot.

[carton253]

He no more said that than the man in the moon...

[samuel_adams_us]

Or in SFB's words, "Leave no child behind" so that I can send your job overseas!

[Elliott Jackalope]

Is President Bush TRYING to convince the rest of us that he is completely out of touch with the average American? That little comment is going to cost him a lot of votes.

Mr. President, if our skills are so out of date, then why are so many companies requiring their American workers to train their foreign replacements before firing them? People are killing themselves over this issue, and our President says "let them eat cake".

This is not going to make Joe Sixpack think good thoughts about our President.

[MEG33]

Fax or phone him.Inform him.

[dirtboy]

Fax or phone him.Inform him.

I email the White House about this often. But if Karl Rove can't stick his finger up in the wind and feel the anger and resentment blowing from this issue, he must have nerve damage in that thar political finger.

[Wolfie]

What's the point really. (Other than pointing the Bush has to be an idiot to believe this). Folks whose jobs aren't on the line now won't care anymore now than when the manufacturing workers who were losing their job 10-20 years ago.

[MEG33]

I read somewhere the faxes and phone calls get more attention.

[wesdale]

If your employer can find someone to do your job for less, you need to make yourself more valuable. Life is not fair. The tech industry is growing fast and a valuable skill today does not make your job secure for very long. Learn new skills. Stay ahead of the competition. It always bothers me when people complain about jobs going overseas. You do not have a right to a job because you were born in America.

[Wolfie]

One term gets the most attention of all.

[dirtboy]

I read somewhere the faxes and phone calls get more attention.

It's moot anyway with either the GOP or the Dems. Neither party cares to deal with the issue, and since the Dems are imploding on the left, the time is ripe for a labor/American party to develop and compete for the center.

[Chi-townChief]

This sounds trumped up.

[dfwgator]

If this is true, Bush just lost the 2004 election.

[carton253]

He didn't say that... he was using the technical field as an example and nothing more. He used the technical field to illustrate the unemployed worker training program. That's it.

So, please don't over-react to this article. The President has been taken out of context. (more so than usual)

[carton253]

It's not true...

[N3WBI3]

I am disgusted there is no way I will vote bush..

[dirtboy]

If your employer can find someone to do your job for less, you need to make yourself more valuable.

The H1-B visa program is based on a lie - that there is a shortage of tech workers. And, above and beyond that, do we want this country to completely lose the concept of a middle class, which is the primary component of economic and political stability? Other countries keep up barriers as we lower ours. It's kinda like being in a boxing match and lowering your guard and hoping the other guy doesn't clean your clock - it ain't ever gonna happen.

[holdmuhbeer]

If your employer can find someone to do your job for less, you need to make yourself more valuable

Ok I'll just ask my employer to cut my salary to 6k a year so I can be more attractive to employ. Is that what you're doing?

[fuente]

Keep this up and I'll vote for Perot--AGAIN!

[dfwgator]

It's not just about learning new skills, there has to be new projects to apply those skills. For the most part, companies now are getting by with older technology, that is more mature. They've gotten burned enough times by "bleeding edge" technology.

[dfwgator]

I hope it isn't true.

[dirtboy]

He used the technical field to illustrate the unemployed worker training program. That's it. So, please don't over-react to this article

So let's see how this works. We use tax dollars to train manufacturing workers how to become low-level tech workers ... and then they'll graduate and not be able to get a decent job because they've all been outsourced overseas. So I guess we'll then train them how to be Wal-Mart greeters.

[Mr. Bird]

Why do all of you techies think it's all about IT? Here's the question that was asked. The "offshoring" issue was a part of it:

They're concerned about jobs going overseas, that technology is taking over jobs. And these people are finding difficulty finding work. And although you're recommitted yourself to your tax cut policy, do you have any ideas or any plans within the administration of what you might do for these people who feel like there are fundamental changes happening in the work force and in the economy?

She was talking about the chronically unemployed, for anyone who was listening. For all anyone knows, she was talking about textile jobs going overseas; technology in the form of robotics and automation replacing union labor, etc.

You guys see "technology" and "jobs" or "work force" and think it's all about H1-B and Indian programmers. Sheesh.

His response was adequate, as far as I'm concerned. He said community colleges should be recognizing employment trends and training people accordingly. Right now, they are not. They are still selling IS certificate programs without regard to opportunity, and are inflating demand with ridiculous promises.

[dirtboy]

Ok I'll just ask my employer to cut my salary to 6k a year so I can be more attractive to employ.

And I'm sure your mortgage company will follow suit and cut your mortage by 90 percent. As will GMAC on your car loan.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Bush is just repeating what industry leaders are telling him, which really translates to: "We don't feel like paying Americans with up to date skill sets what they are worth in the market, so we have to go to India, where the same skill sets can be bought cheaper."

I can't repeat it enough: corporate America hates IT. They consider it a disparate service, like the janitorial staff, instead of an important part of the business; they hate having to deal with it; they hate having to hire and manage difficult IT people; and they hate spending the money to maintain an in-house IT presence. They feel they were gouged by IT salary levels during the tech boom, and outsourcing IT now is just a way of getting their own back and disposing of people they never wanted to hire in the first place.

[MEG33]

Would you like to verify this or are you quick to make a decision without further study.

[holdmuhbeer]

And I'm sure your mortgage company will follow suit and cut your mortage by 90 percent. As will GMAC on your car loan.

lmao, I can only dream.

[Southack]

"I fully understand what you're saying. In other words..."

"Bush just lost several thousand tech worker votes with this line." - Dirtboy

All that Bush did was to rephrase what the reporter asked him. People do that every day simply to insure that they have fully understood a question being asked of them.

And if several thousand tech workers can't understand that simple fact, then they aren't smart enough to be employed in America.

[dfwgator]

Another thing is that emphasis on new skills has led to a lot of "resume-driven" design. We saw this in the Java world where companies were driven to purchase expensive application servers using Enterprise Java Beans, when simple servlets and JDBC access would have done just fine.

[dirtboy]

You guys see "technology" and "jobs" or "work force" and think it's all about H1-B and Indian programmers. Sheesh.

But, the point is, we'll train those laid-off manufacturing workers to be low-level techies - and they STILL won't get work because we're either bringing in H1-B visa workers or companies are outsourcing the very jobs they're training for.

This isn't about the workers. It's about policies in this country that are expediting the rampant hemmoraging of decent-paying jobs and the destruction of the middle class.

[ffusco]

Good for you. Who are you going to vote for? Mr. Ketchup, Tiny Tim, Mumbling Joe, Imaginery friend or Whatsisname?

[Willie Green]

There's more air in between those ears than meets the eye!

A good case can be made that it's actually a vacuum.

[dfwgator]

It's part of this overall mantra of outsourcing everything that is not part of your core business.

[hedgetrimmer]

Thats a _really_ offensive thing for him to say, knowing how our own _federal_ government is weighting trade in favor of communist governments.

[StolarStorm]

It was a lame response, but in fairness he has a lot on his plate right now.

[Florida_Irish]

Learn new skills. Stay ahead of the competition.

Skills like living in the US on under $10,000 a year?

[wesdale]

Bush is still right.

No, I'm not asking my employer for any less than i think I deserve. But I know that as soon as they find someone who can do what i do, and asks less for it, they will let me go. It's up to me to be valuable. It's not up to Bush to protect my job.

Whatever the reason for H1-B visas, it makes sense to hire the best for less. When I shop for software and hardware I look for the best quality at the best price. I don't expect any one to be any different. That's the way markets work, wether it's the job market or the supermarket.

Again, if your job can be done by someone else for less, make yourself more valuable.

[holdmuhbeer]

He won't have anything on his plate after 2004 if he doesn't wake up, he'll be unemployed like the rest of us. Not that he has to work for a living anyway so it won't matter.

[thackney]

I wish that was true. It looks like he was trying to turn this into a reason for a government program.

excerpt from:
Office of the Press Secretary
July 30, 2003
President Bush Discusses Top Priorities for the U.S.
Press Conference of the President
10:33 A.M. EDT

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/07/20030730-1.html

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Staying with that theme, although there are some signs of improvement in the economy, there are sectors in the work force who feel like they're being left behind. They're concerned about jobs going overseas, that technology is taking over jobs. And these people are finding difficulty finding work. And although you're recommitted yourself to your tax cut policy, do you have any ideas or any plans within the administration of what you might do for these people who feel like there are fundamental changes happening in the work force and in the economy?

THE PRESIDENT: Sure. Listen, I fully understand what you're saying. In other words, as technology races through the economy, a lot of times worker skills don't keep up with technological change. And that's a significant issue that we've got to address in the country.

I think my idea of reemployment accounts makes a lot of sense. In essence, it says that you get $3,000 from the federal government to help you with training, day care, transportation, perhaps moving to another city. And if, within a period of time, you're able to find a job, you keep the balance as a reemployment bonus.

I know the community colleges provide a very important role in worker training, worker retraining. I look forward to working with our community colleges through the Department of Education, coordinate closely with states, particularly in those states in which technology is changing the nature of the job force.

I've always found the community college -- and this is from my days as the governor of Texas -- found the community college to be a very appropriate place for job training programs because they're more adaptable, their curriculums are easier to change, they're accessible. Community colleges are all over the place.

And -- but you're right. I mean, I think we need to make sure that people get the training necessary to keep up with the nature of the jobs, as jobs change.

[Southack]

c#34

[StolarStorm]

"You do not have a right to a job because you were born in America."

But we do have the right that our government treat ALL citizens equally. Setting up the H1-B visa to screw specific professions violates that right.

[Fpimentel]

There are plenty of tech jobs starting at $35,000 per year in Southern California. The whiners who say they can't find any work in the tech industry are turning down jobs that pay $35,000 to $60,000 per year. If you have the skills you will get paid well, if you are a wannabe who was riding the dot com bubble you will get washed out.

[laweeks]

He'll be a one-term president if he doesn't get off his a$$ and do something to stop the flood of jobs out of the country. I refuse to take the blame that I didn't continue to go thru college every day of my life just so I can try to catch up to the jobs pouring into Mexico, Canada, and offshore.

I have a job teaching computer skills to many people who faithfully ran machines, did assembly, and you-name-it for dozens of years only to find that their employers would rather move everything to Mexico, where, oddly enough, those same people are crossing our borders to come up HERE. And then when they get here, they want free medical care, free education, and what's left of our jobs. It's extremely hard to keep these student's chins up when every day we read about Mexican-bound jobs. And there's only so many jobs asking for MS-Word, Excel, and Access skills. I'd rather not listen to George Bush be so flippant about the American worker. They don't deserve flippancy, but rather they deserve jobs.

It's been said by Rush Limbaugh (and I believe it) that the government CANNOT create jobs. But I firmly believe that the goovernment can DESTROOY jobs.

[carton253]

Before you don't vote for Bush, you need to realize that the President did not say what the headline accuses him of...