The Great Skills Gap Myth: Can't American Companies Find Qualified Workers?

New Geography ^ | 03/30/2014 | Aaron M. Renn

[remember]

The FIRST year Java got big they were asking for 5 years of Java programming experience.

IT IS A SCAM.

Agreed. There may well be a shortage in certain skilled trades as mentioned in post 4 above. However, I think that a number of companies use the "skills gap" argument as an excuse to bring in more guest workers who can be paid lower salaries and are easier to exploit. You can see Census numbers on the makeup of tech workers in Silicon Valley at this link. As can be seen, about half of Software, Applications, and Systems Software developers in Silicon Valley are not citizens, about a quarter are naturalized citizens, and a quarter are citizens by birth. Hence, the use of guest workers extends well beyond those with special, unique skills. You can also see links to a number of articles on the supposed skills gap at this link .

[GAFreedom]

@be-baw:

I got about a third of the way through that malarkey before I decided the author knows not of what he speaks.

Gotta disagree. I work in the copier industry; the guy is dead on target. Everyone in IT faces what he says.

There IS a skill gap. Particularly in the skilled trades: plumbers, pipefitters, welders, electricians, carpenters, boilermakers, and on and on.

The copier techs that go onsite to fix the machine are also trades. And you know what? Might pay all right, but it's a dead end job. You'll never be promoted to management. You'll never get out of field service. And they get paid much less than I do, only $15-20/hr a pop. It ain't never going to increase, either.

And the corporate bosses? They have three opinions that hold sway:
1) Robots, automation, and disposable customer-replaceable parts are making field techs obsolete.
2) Once you do field service, you're no good for anything else but manual and menial labor, no matter what sheepskins you get.
3) They cost too much in benefits, 401K, and everything else.

Sad to say, I've not seen any trade where the bosses don't think the same. Not to mention we've gotten to where it only takes 4-5 days to train a field tech to fix a problem with any of the machines we produce. It's just not sustainable work.

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@dfwgator:

It’s about hiring “good enough” for the least amount of money.

That's the truth!

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@Seekandfind:

The ad says: compensation: $16.00/hr The position is PM/Maintenance Tech - 2nd Shift In your opinion, how much should the compensation be for the skillset described?

*reads ad*

Minimum $25/hr, with fully paid medical/dental/vision and fully or double matching 401K.