Bad news for US Engineers

Offshore outsourcing is picking up....Read this:
**broken link removed**

It seems like a hard time.
I wonder how many chances that a engineer could turn into a leader or a manager?

I just wonder were your priorities are ?
For most of people - main concern in these hard times [as you said] is GETTING a job at all - let alone managerial positions...

armai,

From some of the articles that I've read, the shift you describe, moving from low-level implementer to high-level project design or management, is what it's going to take to survive with companies that move jobs off-shore. This assumes, as roli pointed out, that you already have a job with the company.

For people looking for work right now, it's definitely not good news. The only folks hiring in the Washington DC Metro area right now are defense contractors. And for most of those positions a clearance is required. The bad news is that the time that it takes to get a clearance these days (if you're even eligible to get one) is looooong. However, if you are able to land one of these jobs, the chances are pretty slim that they're ever going to get outsourced to foreign countries!

Radix

For me this third age of the globalization should be celebrated. The problem with the north Americans is they think they are the center of the universe, and they are not. Why not to move to another place to work? To know different cultures and finally realize that North America is just another country in this planet. In addition to that this movement means the survival of the capitalism.
Be optimistic, lots of new opportunities are to come.

NandoPG

As an American Tax Payer - I do not share your opinion.
Why should an American Company give jobs to non-US Tax payers ?

But - As a citizen of the world - yes I do share your opinion.......

roli said:

As an American Tax Payer - I do not share your opinion.
Why should an American Company give jobs to non-US Tax payers ?

But - As a citizen of the world - yes I do share your opinion.......

Click to expand...

Because the company saves and hearn more money and gives a better oportunity of living to people in some countrys.

I agree with nandopg. 8)

Bastos

"...the company earnes more money ..." ???
What people in the 'company' earn more money ? Employees ? no...
Shareholders do !

So - this makes only 'company' owners richer. And they still make most of their business in the US. Why not send these 'company' owners to live OFFSHORE together with the new Jobs they create OFFSHORE...???

[align=justify:68802cff02][align=left]My opinion is that sitiation is delicat for the US and EU countries. Soon (2-3 years) these countries will find way to keep their intellectual potential in our industry.[/align:68802cff02][/align]

NandoPG,

You need to be careful when you make generalizations. I don't believe that the majority of North Americans think they are the center of the universe. You forget that a huge portion of the population isn't from North America and many of them have happily lived and worked overseas. I spent many years as a child and as an adult living and working in Europe. I agree that any "free" country can be a great place to work/live.

However, it is unfortunate that due to the greed and short-sightedness of corportations and share-holders, many companies are opting for solutions that will make them appear profitable in the near-term. I think the danger long term is that the knowledge required to design and build their products will eventually reside outside the country. Once that happens, it's only a matter of time before the company becomes obsolete itself.

I guess the point that I'm trying to make is that out-sourcing engineering is different than out-sourcing manufacturing. I believe that the engineers that implement real projects are the ones that learn how to build better ones in the future. Once that happens, then these experts become the ones that need to be consulted when doing high-level architecture and design. And when that happens, it's only a matter of time before these new "experts" go and form their own company.

Just my 2 cents...

Radix

Yes, this is the problem of capitalism. "Most" of the time what moves the company owners is to get richer 8O .

One more thought:
As times goes by, these OFFSHORE jobs will tend to be more expensive - as the Globalization Process takes effect and Engineers Salaries + Standard Of Living will equate those in the Western Countries.

When that eventually happens - I hope that China & India will return the favor, and create Jobs in the US....

There is a loop between trying to make your product more competetive (means less price ) and at the same time keep job at home . If US or Europe companies will not do that - they will be dead (it is shareholders concern - but benefits country ).
From other side the main income of US and Europe is to sail their products abroad - to the same third countries where they are outsourcing their jobs to(that is why globalization was started - to get into new markets ). So macroeconomic picture gave positive income for US and Europe till reecent years . But situation is changing and it is like domino effect - companies invest in outsourcing , increasing competence abroad , this again lead to more outsourcing . More competence gives possiblity to develop local tech at home by local countries .
I remember China was began from small electronic products - telephones and similar - with 1 month life cycle . But today they are on race with US (it is expected to have bipolar world till 2020 -30) .
Anyway - if there won't be serious salary and social
payments decrease in Europe and US - this situation will be kept for upcoming years - but there is little possiblity that governments will do that (election is what they are focused on ).
It is evolution theory in practice .

I totally agree ..
currently there is a huge amount of cost difference in the western and third world countries .. since these corporation to gain short term profits are moving jobs to these countries .. which will in turn improve the living standard and the buying power of the people living there. Hence they would also reach the same level as the americans, and then there would be not much of a cost difference in the two parts of the world. i guess good for the world on the whole after all in this time such globalization is inevitable

I heard the scenario that as 100% of the available engineers in other countries get hired they will demand higher salaries and everything will equalize out.

As far as being the center of the universe, I think that any person in the US will agree that Europe has the monolopy on good classical music and operas. Any that read English language literature will agree that the UK has 95% of the high quality authors.

Roli

Since over half of the stock in the US is owned by workers' pension funds, they are the benefactors of all this once they retire.

flatulent,
2 insights and a food for thought:
1. 100% [as you say...] of 'available' engineering personnel in China & India may equal and exceed the total population of both US & UK combined...
2. Yes that is true - but what happens if they get laid-off in favor of newly created OFFSHORE jobs before they retire ?

For sure not all Americans think of North America as the Center of the Universe but I would say the 95% of the Americans think like that. Unfortunately I have to leave my country to survive somewhere in North America so I know what I am talking.
Also I think this new age of the globalization it is not targeting easy and immediate profits. I think the main target is the development of new potential markets so that the capitalism relations can survive. If you see some companies are moving not only their manufacturing plants but the strategic control of the company itself. In my opinion this fact doesn't means immediate profit, it means survival.

NandoPG

I suspect that everyone thinks that where they grew up is the most wonderful place on earth. Because of this, visitors to that place get the impression that the long term residents are arrogantly proud of their part of the earth and think others are unfortunate for having to live in other parts of the earth.

Each part of the earth has people with entertaining eccentric behavior. I have heard from my US friends that when they went to one country and tried to speak the local language, they were ridiculed for not being very skilled at it.

As one directly effected by the economic changes, my employeement will efectively end January 5th of 2004, I can see all the diffierent sides of the arguements. Yes, there needs to be a leveling in the world, but it really needs to start in the individual countries. What I am seeing is an effort by the top layers in one country to hang on to their power and privilage by cutting those layers under them and outsourcing.

This is the downside of capitolism; the reduces of people to just another part of an accounting equation. There are no difference between engineers and production people and for that mater managers. Once the value of people is reduced to a varrable in an equation everone is in trouble execpt those few who writting and reading the equations, the ones who plan on reapping the ultimate profits.

The falacy of the capitolist system is that the wealth of many is controled by a few and only for their gain and power. This is what happens when we lose sight of human values.

Of course it is about profits! Bussiness for the most part are design of the growth model - make more and more money have more and more control. Problem is we live in a finite world. Moving to a lower wage country does increase profit marge and it may open new markets. It also avoids some environmental and safety issues. The enviromental issues facing us all are probably a lot more important than the $$ that everone is focused on. If the governments can not control the corporations and hold them accountable .....