Slashdot Mirror
Japan "Running Out of Engineers"
bfwebster writes "A story in the New York Times reports that Japan, a country that rebuilt itself as a technological power after World War II, now faces an increasing shortage of college graduates with degrees in science and engineering. Says the article: 'By one ministry of internal affairs estimate, the digital technology industry here is already short almost half a million engineers.' The article goes on to point out that the overall trend of waning interest in science and technology has been going on for 'almost two decades' and that the shortage is made worse by the traditional reluctance of Japanese companies to hire and use foreign workers. The US has had a similar trend for quite some time: 'Undergraduate engineering enrollment declined through most of the 1980s and 1990s, rose from 2000 through 2003, and declined slightly in recent years.'"
1- The Japanese society is getting older: fewer kids, fewer graduates, fewer engineers.
2- Regarding the similar situation in America (or Europe) : in constant dollars, average hourly revenue has barely risen since the early 80s. Consequently people have chosen careers that pay better than engineering.
The problem is that without engineers the future of our technically-dependent society is at stake. The solution is simple in theory but hard to implement in practice, and not instant: Japan should open their borders to immigrants, start making more babies, and everywhere in the developed world Engineering should be a prestigious career path again.