Globalization Decimating US I.T. Jobs

mrraven writes, "According to Ronald Reagan's former deputy secretary of the treasury in this article in Counterpunch, globalization is destroying US I.T. jobs. From the article: 'During the past five years (January 01 – January 06), the information sector of the US economy lost 644,000 jobs, or 17.4 per cent of its work force. Computer systems design and related work lost 105,000 jobs, or 8.5 per cent of its work force. Clearly, jobs offshoring is not creating jobs in computers and information technology.'" Paul Craig Roberts quotes a number of formerly pro-globalization economists who are now seeing the light of the harrowing of the US middle class. It's not limited to I.T. Roberts quotes one recanting economist, Alan Blinder, as saying that 42–56 million American service-sector jobs are susceptible to offshoring.

Comments

H-1b Scapegoat

[MightyYar]

This article, like many others of it's ilk, is against the H-1b visa program. I understand the criticism, and don't really deny it. However, one has to look at the positives that the program brings. As an immigration policy, the H-1b program is brilliant. Think about it, you bring in the rest of the world's best and brightest. Certainly the few thousand that come in via this program are preferable to the millions of poor and destitute that come across illegally? I think that the H-1b and student visa programs are essential to keeping the US at the forefront of the tech world.

PLEASE understand that I am not disparaging the Mexican immigrants... they tend to be hard workers, and they fill a vital role in our economy, even if we won't admit it. I'm simply arguing that it is good for the US to have as many of the world's best-and-brightest as possible. I'm arguing that allowing these people to come in and work actually benefits the economy enough to offset the jobs that they might displace.

One personal observation... It is very difficult to find US native candidates in engineering that are as qualified as many of these H-1b candidates. Filling a job vacancy can take a very long time, especially when our co-op/internship pipeline runs dry. We end up hiring foreigners as often as not. Their pay is lower, but only because their "foreign" degree is not really considered. All that I have had experience with received a bachelor's degree in their home country and then received a masters in the US. They are paid at the same level as a US bachelor's degree in many cases. I don't know if this is fair or not, but that seems to be the norm and it doesn't seem to affect the salaries of the native Americans that we hire. Actually, I think I stated that poorly. We seek an H-1b candidate with a US masters to fill the same position that we would staff with a native candidate who only has a bachelor's degree. The salaries would be the same for the same position. I know that one's personal experience is not statistically valid, but I do think that others share this experience.

Speak for yourself man!..

[plasmacutter]

for I know for a fact i'm a patented "remote control human".

I am howard dean's toy I tell you... he controls me with his RC controller...

you know.. the wheel for forward and back.. trigger for accelaration, red button for bashing republicans ; )

Re:Riots set anti-globalization back in the U.S.

[mrraven]

Yeah I'll go watch the lying MSM that told us that there were WMDs in Iraq for sure. Oh you mean Chalabi and "Curveball" stovepiped false "intelligence" to Cheney and the MSM reported these lies verbatim without any questioning whatsoever from "liberal" CNN/NYTs/NPR to Fox all the same story? What a shock. And their reporting on environmental and economic issues is just as distorted. No life is too short to be lied to by the MSM, I value my time more than that. Just because large swaths of the American public are being lied and dazzled by flashy graphics and news anchor bimbos peddling celebrity gossip, fear mongering about the in fact very small dangers posed by terrorism ans pedophilia, and endless stories on missing white girls doesn't mean that I have to fall into the same trap. I am far more interested in hard numbers and facts on what the power elite is actually up and the MSM is the last place to find that information.

Re:In more trouble than most realize...

[Fred_A]

"Alcatel does not do the kind of research that Lucent has historically done at Bell Labs. Future projects at Bell Labs will need to focus on productization in a 5-year timeframe. [ ... ]

Lucent also does research in linguistics ?

Re:RD Offsored Too. Everyone SOL.

[Anonymous Coward]

Now, we all sit under the M$ monopoly

twitter, please read this carefully. Following this advice will make Slashdot a better place for everyone, including yourself.

• As a representative of the Linux community, participate in mailing list and newsgroup discussions in a professional manner. Refrain from name-calling and use of vulgar language. Consider yourself a member of a virtual corporation with Mr. Torvalds as your Chief Executive Officer. Your words will either enhance or degrade the image the reader has of the Linux community.
• Avoid hyperbole and unsubstantiated claims at all costs. It's unprofessional and will result in unproductive discussions.
• A thoughtful, well-reasoned response to a posting will not only provide insight for your readers, but will also increase their respect for your knowledge and abilities.
• Always remember that if you insult or are disrespectful to someone, their negative experience may be shared with many others. If you do offend someone, please try to make amends.
• Focus on what Linux has to offer. There is no need to bash the competition. Linux is a good, solid product that stands on its own.
• Respect the use of other operating systems. While Linux is a wonderful platform, it does not meet everyone's needs.
• Refer to another product by its proper name. There's nothing to be gained by attempting to ridicule a company or its products by using "creative spelling". If we expect respect for Linux, we must respect other products.
• Give credit where credit is due. Linux is just the kernel. Without the efforts of people involved with the GNU project , MIT, Berkeley and others too numerous to mention, the Linux kernel would not be very useful to most people.
• Don't insist that Linux is the only answer for a particular application. Just as the Linux community cherishes the freedom that Linux provides them, Linux only solutions would deprive others of their freedom.
• There will be cases where Linux is not the answer. Be the first to recognize this and offer another solution.

From http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/docs/HOWTO/Advoca cy