Report: Computer degrees losing appeal

[Ioman]

The number of undergraduates signing up for computer degrees continues to decline, fueling concerns among tech companies that there won't be enough skilled workers to meet demand, according to Monday's USA Today.

New enrollment in computer science and engineering programs has dropped four years in a row, the newspaper said, citing the Computing Research Association, a trade group for computer professors.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/23/technology/computer_major/index.htm?cnn=yes

Well duh, you are shipping our jobs overseas, and what tech jobs are left here pay half what they did 5 years ago. The pay is down and there is no job security, what are they thinking?

[spankers]

I think every affluent Western nation is going through this sort of thing. In Germany the unemployment rate has risen to almost twelve percent!

Of even more concern to me is the amount of personal information belonging to U.S. citizens being processed by foreign nationals.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/business/article/0,1299,DRMN_4_3795082,00.html

[Ioman]

This scares me too, thanks for the link. What I am seeing personally are our jobs being shipped overseas and more foreigners being brought into the U.S. via work visa's etc for what little high tech jobs we do have available. This is particularily bad in the semiconductor industry. I have several friends that work at IDT and Intel here in Oregon, so I get to this first hand.

[llbbl]

Time to switch to business with a minor in computer science.

[spankers]

Time to switch to business with a minor in computer science. Perhaps. I think the computer job market will stabilize over the next few years though. One of the reasons there was/is surplus labor in computer related disciplines was the dot com bubble/burst. From 1999 to 2001 everyone thought that a Computer Science degree was the fast track to success... then the bottom dropped out.

[spankers]

What I am seeing personally are our jobs being shipped overseas and more foreigners being brought into the U.S. via work visa's etc for what little high tech jobs we do have available. This is particularily bad in the semiconductor industry. I am not sure if there is any cap on the number of H1B visas granted every year, but there needs to be a limit.

Corporate America needs to realize that if they eliminate U.S. jobs then they reduce the number of people able to buy their products, in turn reducing their profit... with the end worst-case result being the economy collapses.

A certain amount of greed is not necessarily a bad thing but in the attempt to maximize profits in the short term (by offshoring, reduction of personnel, etc..) it can be self-defeating.

[ECA]

one of the things I see at this time, is the transfer of major companies to LOWER income areas..Where it dont cost an ARM and LEG to live..
They also are paying lower wages this way.

If you look at ALL the companies that are located on the EAST coast, and the BILLS(posted from) and then into cali...The cost of hiring ANYBODY is rediculous..
DELL, even built a customer service place IN IDAHO, SOUTHERN IDAHO, and hired people are BASIC min WAGE. You wont EVER get these guys, as they are the Corporate customer service(ya, we get India, corps get ENGLISH SPEAKERS).

the fun part is this isnt SAVINGS to the customer, its money in the pockets of the UPPER levels..

[Ioman]

I am not sure if there is any cap on the number of H1B visas granted every year, but there needs to be a limit.

Corporate America needs to realize that if they eliminate U.S. jobs then they reduce the number of people able to buy their products, in turn reducing their profit... with the end worst-case result being the economy collapses.

A certain amount of greed is not necessarily a bad thing but in the attempt to maximize profits in the short term (by offshoring, reduction of personnel, etc..) it can be self-defeating.

There is a limit the the amount of H1B Visas the country and companies can issue. This years limite was maxed out in March from what I can tell, for a WHOLE years worth of visas.