Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
An L.A. Times opinon piece today by Michael Hiltzig states there is no shortage of U.S. STEM graduates. The real reason companies keep harping on the need to bring in more immigrants, according to him, is that employers save money by hiring foreign workers instead of Americans.
Are graduates of U.S science and engineering programs really having a difficult time finding work in the tech industry these days?
Last edited by simbared; 08-02-2015 at 05:39 PM..
Reason: Direct link to article not available.
If you look at the visa applications for tech companies, it's quite easy to see that the salaries on more often over $100k than not. I don't buy that there's a whole lot of savings for highly quality STEM graduates. We don't have enough high quality STEM graduates.
However, we certainly have an abundance of low quality STEM graduates (IT guys, science technicians, etc.) and there's no reason we should be allowing many of these types of people from other countries.
It's partly true. When they say STEM, they are usually referring to E (engineering). And the articles usually leave out a key word which is "skilled". Skilled engineers are in short supply. But unskilled (most engineering graduates these days) are in abundance. These are the people that chose the major for the high average salary, but put in the bare minimum effort in school. So even though they chose the major for the high salary, they likely won't be receiving it.
It's partly true. When they say STEM, they are usually referring to E (engineering). And the articles usually leave out a key word which is "skilled". Skilled engineers are in short supply. But unskilled (most engineering graduates these days) are in abundance. These are the people that chose the major for the high average salary, but put in the bare minimum effort in school. So even though they chose the major for the high salary, they likely won't be receiving it.
Agreed.
When they say they want more STEM graduates, they really mean more Engineering and Medicine grads simply because they're in a shortage. For most PhD graduates in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, tenured positions are exceedingly difficult to find and there is an overabundance of PhDs in the job market.
When they say they want more STEM graduates, they really mean more Engineering and Medicine grads simply because they're in a shortage. For most PhD graduates in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, tenured positions are exceedingly difficult to find and there is an overabundance of PhDs in the job market.
PhDs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics more often, than not, find themselves at pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
The T from STEM, which refers to technology, also has a large shortage of high quality candidates.
Statisticians (which is math), is largely in demand at the moment. Although, I haven't seen any claims of there being a shortage, but as the data science industry expands, it's very possible.
Biology doesn't "technically" count unless you wanna LITERALLY say "pre med"
STEM DOES include degrees like Computer Science and Physics as an FYI
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasLawyer2000
PhDs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics more often, than not, find themselves at pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
The T from STEM, which refers to technology, also has a large shortage of high quality candidates.
Statisticians (which is math), is largely in demand at the moment. Although, I haven't seen any claims of there being a shortage, but as the data science industry expands, it's very possible.
You're right in that most PhDs in basic science find themselves in industry, but many of them are woefully underpaid relative to their training, or they just bounce from post-doc to post-doc making 40k in their late 30s early 40s after being in school for the better part of a decade.
The real reason companies keep harping on the need to bring in more immigrants, according to him, is that employers save money by hiring foreign workers instead of Americans.
This is just not true, to get an H1B visa (The most commong for skilled foreigners with STEM backgrounds), there is something called the prevailing wage that must be met, so it is most certainly not cheaper to hire non-US citizens. There is truly a shortage of skilled engineers, and plenty of not-so-skilled engineers (I know, I work with a few of them).
An L.A. Times opinon piece today by Michael Hiltzig states there is no shortage of U.S. STEM graduates. The real reason companies keep harping on the need to bring in more immigrants, according to him, is that employers save money by hiring foreign workers instead of Americans.
Are graduates of U.S science and engineering programs really having a difficult time finding work in the tech industry these days?
20 years later , it is all the same shortage cry, it doesnt get old.
The thing with IT and tech is that success is predicated more so on innovation and natural ability/talent and just "thinking outside the box".
You see alot of guys in Silicon Valley or the Telecom Corridor who simply made an innovative, new and "necessary/practical" invention and turned it into something big. ALOT of them didn't necessarily major in CS or IT, but were innovative and thought about something "new". There are alot of engineers(no suprise lol) in those areas though.
So it's not necessarily a "shortage" but rather "ok what can you bring?" or "how/what can you think (of)?"
I believe if you want to work for the government it is more or less the same. In other words, if you are a CS major you aren't "guaranteed" a job as a programmer at some big company, but it certainly helps lol. Then again school pedigree will always play a factor in jobs/internships/etc. I mean if it's MIT vs "no name/low ranked state school" it's obvious who will get the job and who won't think there's a "shortage".
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
