Obama: "We Don't Have Enough Engineers'

I'm always worried about these sorts of things. If there's enough money in the eventual jobs then people will start choosing to do engineering, because the benefits outweigh the costs.

Part of the cost, though, is that for most people engineering is bloody hard. The problem I see looming is that people will choose to do engineering, find it's hard, complain, threaten to drop out, and the universities and other colleges will lower the standards required to obtain the degree.

Net result - more people who are qualified as "engineers" but who are effectively unemployable.

I worry, I worry.

I too worry about this. The last two viable jobs in the US seem to be engineering related or medical related. The barrier to entrance to one is less protected than the other. With the economy and almost ever other sector in shambles I fear a mass migration to tech jobs.

It was not too long ago we where flooded with bodies from the dot com boom and bust. Back then the quality of personnel was horrible. When you get people in it for the money in engineering type disciplines the quality suffers. If there is no passion for technology in the person the fruits of there labor are more often than not pretty sour.

While others cannot find work, the tech sector has jobs. It is just a matter of time before those out of work decide that it is better to work in tech than to starve. We the tech sector just came out of a large downturn, we led the nation by a few years I fear that in influx of bodies would kill out modest recovery we have made back to a healthy market.

I call BS. When engineers (of whatever kinds) end up getting signing and retention bonuses, I'll agree. Given the STEM outsourcing trends, this is calling for newbies that cost less. Or, trying to pay off education interests.

Be nice if they put their money where their mouth is and also funded infrastructure projects (e.g. high-speed rail, mass transit, bridge repair).

Maybe we should stop kicking out the people from foreign countries with the advanced degrees they earn here.