<p>Well said, Ken. Living in nowheresville, LA and spending time on a platform (sounded like most of the new hires had to go through this experience on their way to better opportunities both upstream and downstream)is not the quality of life many want, even short term.</p>
<p>
Then you should either find something that isn’t “work” to you, or else marry for money. At the end of the day, there are very very very few jobs out there where you get high pay without hard work. In ANY high-paying job you are going to be expected to work hard and long - I’ve had 100 hour weeks on the job (not many, thankfully). Petroleum engineers work long, hard hours in distant and often unpleasant places, often away from their loved ones for extended stretches of time.</p>
<p>I went into engineering because of my predisposition toward mathematics, science, and problem-solving. I actually like these things, but I hate work because I hate dealing with people. That is not to say I hate people themselves, just the interaction.</p>
<p>“EET goes far more into troubleshooting and repair, EE goes far more into design and theory.”</p>
<hr>
<p>Design and theory can be outsourced in the snap of a finger. Troubleshooting and repair cannot. Something to think about. </p>
<p>From the Bureau of Labor Statistics:</p>
<p>“Electrical engineers are expected to have employment growth of 2 percent over the projections decade. Although strong demand for electrical devices—including electric power generators, wireless phone transmitters, high-density batteries, and navigation systems—should spur job growth, international competition and the use of engineering services performed in other countries will limit employment growth.”</p>
<p>EEs also have the highest unemployment rate of all engineers:</p>
<p>[Unemployment</a> rate for electrical engineers soars to new record, engineering jobless rate up](<a href=“http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-07/i-urf070709.php]Unemployment”>http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-07/i-urf070709.php)</p>
<p>And here is a similar article from 2003 during the last recession. As you can see, EES tend to get hit the hardest during an economic downturn:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2004/022604pr.html[/url]”>http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2004/022604pr.html</a></p>
<p>Get out, ■■■■■.</p>
<p>You don’t like facts? Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. If you don’t like my facts, your free to post your own. But I doubt your going to find too many that counter mine… Weren’t you the one who said finance likes to recruit engineers even though it is common knowledge most i-bankers have liberal arts majors?</p>
<p>Again, I support nearly everything I say with facts. ■■■■■■ don’t.</p>
<p>Homer does raise a valid point. I’m in this for the money and unemployment tends to be detrimental to one’s net worth.</p>
<p>I did a search and found a more recent article from 3Q2009:
[Third</a> Quarter Engineering Unemployment Data Show Mixed Trend](<a href=“http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2009/100709.asp]Third”>http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2009/100709.asp)
According to this, EE unemployment fell to 7.3% vs. 5.9% for the engineering profession as a whole. Thus, I may seek a masters degree in something besides EE in order to diversify; would that be a prudent hedge?</p>
<p>You might want to read this interesting post about engineering. In full disclosure, I did not write it.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/584100-dont-go-engineering-college.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/584100-dont-go-engineering-college.html</a></p>
<p>You are a broken record. Outsourcing this, outsourcing that. It isn’t nearly as big of a problem as you say it is. You have posted a couple of articles about how there is no engineerig shortage but that hardly constitutes evidence that it is true. Many, many more articles support the opposite conclusion. What makes you sources so much more valid than the rest?</p>
<p>Outsourcing is a real issue, but it is not something that is so big a problem that it warrants concluding that engineering is a dead end career. The economy is tough right now but it is tough for everyone. Everyone is in a tough spot.</p>
<p>Stop being such an alarmist. The world isn’t ending and engineering isn’t going away.</p>
<p>Well, instead of doing engineering, you could do pharmacy. Much better job propsects. Physical therapy is also good.</p>
<p>“Many, many more articles support the opposite conclusion.”</p>
<p>Where are these articles? Most of them quote people who have an agenda to spread nonsense propaganda (ie: tech compnay executives, US Chamber of Commerce, politicians, etc.)</p>
<p>I highly advise you to turn your speakers up and watch this video:</p>
<p>
Well there is a surprise. Not.</p>
<p>** Can’t link to youtube, Homer. Better write out the link.</p>
<p>ok, here it is again. I inserted a space between “you” and “tube” so correct that after you put the URL in your browser.</p>
<p>Sounds like we’ve got a conspiracy theorist on our hands.</p>
<p>Not everyone is out to get the little guy. There so so many articles about the engineering shortage, and sure, some people have agendas. However, those agendas never include perpetuating a problem that destroys the economy. If all such articles are lies, I invite you to explain how those liars expect to get re-elected or re-appointed when so many people have been duped into following a dead end career and the unemployment rate continues to rise. Unemploye people generally don’t favor the incumbent. Even politicians have a vested interest in having a strong economy. I doubt many would intentionally sabotage it.</p>
<p>no, it’s not a conspiracy theroy. It’s well documented. After you read the article, be sure to watch the video embedded in it:</p>
<p>[A</a> tech labor shortage myth? Exploring the H-1B visa debate](<a href=“http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/165656.asp]A”>http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/165656.asp)</p>
<p>Tech firms invent shortage panic</p>
<p>[Tech</a> firms invent shortage panic | ajc.com](<a href=“http://www.ajc.com/opinion/tech-firms-invent-shortage-190632.html]Tech”>http://www.ajc.com/opinion/tech-firms-invent-shortage-190632.html)</p>
<p>Actually, I do agree that large corporations are claiming they cannot fill their technical positions with domestic talent, and then bring in cheap labor under the H-1B visas. The people cannot come here without being sponsored by a company. And yes- they are paid significantly below what the US folks command. Not a “conspiracy theory” at all.</p>
<p>*** cross posted with Homer.</p>
<p>Wait, so now union reps don’t have an agenda? When did that happen? I can’t watch the video at this time because I’m sitting in an airport, but that article definitely has an agenda. Things are rarely as simple as supply and demand. The crummy economy certainly affects things like that.</p>
<p>The AJC article brings up some good points as well, but it is full of holes. It acknowledges the fact that top students in America are goin to more lucrative areas than STEM fields. Meanwhile, top foreign minds are gravitating to STEM. How do try reach the conclusion that all the American graduates are as qualified then? Nothing expressly supports that claim.</p>
<p>It also doesn’t account for engineering graduates who go to fill non-engineering roles, a trend that is especially prominent at top schools like MIT. That represents even more top students defecting away from engineering even after getting engineering degrees.</p>
<p>It isn’t about the sheer volume of engineers that graduate, it is about the quality. If much of the cream of the crop are siphoned off, whose to say that there aren’t more qualified foreigners out there?</p>
<p>Naturally, the solution is to raise wages to tempt the top American students to stay in STEM fields, but in this economic climate, it isn’t feasible, especially when those other more lucrative options often pay well over 6 figures starting out. That is where the H1B stuff comes in.</p>
<p>Are H1B visas hurting engineering wages in the US? Almost definitely. However, a good American student can still easily get a good engineering job if they don’t mind starting at $70k instead of $120k. It’s all about money, and people are naturally greedy.</p>