Re: Outlook for Materials Jobs?


Note to readers: I had initially rejected Dr. Underdown's post as "too
political." He objected and after some consideration I approved the post.
The rejection, e-mail exchange, and reconsideration took several days, and
I apologize for the delay.

I believe some of his assertions are in need of supporting data, and so I
pose the following questions to him and anyone else who may have
information that sheds light on the subject:

"Dr. Frank Underdown Jr." <frankunderdown@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It depends if you are willing/can relocate to another country. Due to
> globalization and outsourcing from 1st world countries to 3rd world
> countries, most of the high tech jobs are currently relocating to
> China, India, Taiwan, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Eastern Europe,
> etc.

Are the jobs really relocating (jobs gained in the 3rd world at the expense
of jobs lost in the 1st world), or is the 3rd world simply catching up to
the 1st world in the proportion of working scientists and engineers
relative to their populations?

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics on
"Chemists and Materials Scientists"[1] the job growth is expected to "grow
about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2012." How does
this square with the assertion that jobs are relocating? Wouldn't job
growth cease or be below average?

According to another source, in the U.S. many "graduates have moved away
from the semiconductor industry into other areas, such as nanotechnology,
he said, and the professors have been going "where the money is.""[2]
Couple that with observations from the same report that in "the sheer
production of engineers, the United States lags its current and future
competitors in the microelectronics industry,"[3] and that the "European
Union produces more than double the U.S. output of engineers," and I have
to ask if perhaps U.S. firms are outsourcing simply because there isn't
enough supply in the U.S.?

[1] http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos049.htm
[2] http://www.nap.edu/books/0309085012/html/32.html
[3] http://www.nap.edu/books/0309085012/html/33.html

.

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