more on Tech: A 'hostile environment' for US natives????

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Greg Skinner <gds () best com>
Date: May 8, 2005 5:23:37 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Tech: A 'hostile environment' for US  
natives????


[for IP]

gep2 () terabites com wrote:

> And more to the point... just which professions here in the USA do
> you feel are NOT going to subjected to this sort of (crushing!!!!)
> outsourcing pressure? And do you think that the US economy can
> survive on those alone, whatever few they are?

I don't know much about the fields of medicine or law, but it seems
that despite people from outside the US being hired to do those type
of jobs in the US, US doctors and lawyers have not seen the type of
job losses that US computer professionals have.  A major difference
between the practice of law and medicine vs. software engineering (for
example) is that you need to get a license to do the prior two on a
professional level.  There has always seemed to be a backlash against
professional licensing of computer professionals, for reasons such as
it stifles innovation, or the licensed folk won't be "as good as"
either the self-taught or degreed but unlicensed.  (As an example,
among some computer folk, certification such as MCSE seems to be
looked down upon as a lower form of qualification for work than having
a degree or learning it on one's own.)

Another question is what type of education is most likely to lead to
making computer professionals highly competitive, cost-effective, and
innovative.  For example, computer science/engineering departments
tend to vary in their approach to the subject.  Some are heavy on
theory, some tend to be case study oriented, some involve lots of
project work, some are a mixture of the previous three.  (I've
probably left a few other types out.)  It's not clear which is the
best.

As an aside, I think the level of consolidation in the computer
industry is as much a factor in joblessness as
outsourcing/offshoring.  Which raises the question of just how many
computer companies (and thus, employees) can the worldwide market
support?


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