Jeremy wrote:
] Georgia Tech already is adjusting its teaching approach based
] upon the assumption that routine computing jobs will be
] done overseas in coming years.

Thats very reassuring. DeMillo used to be an exec at HP. Carly is a big advocate of offshoring. He manages to support her interests and sell his school while simultaneously not saying anything at all. How many grads are you placing in jobs right out of school right now DeMillo? How does that compare to 5-10 years ago?

What I, and I think most people, are interested in here is specifics. Exactly how is DeMillo "retooling." What changes are being made? Where are the opportunities going to be, exactly?

When the tech downturn started we all figured its just a storm and there will be interesting work to do once the economy works itself out. Now just as the economy is starting to pick back up and we began to see some amount of traction in the market we are being told that demand for computer professionals will NOT return.

What people are interested in hearing is exactly WHAT it is that they need to be doing in order to put food on the table now and in 5 years, preferably in a meaningful way. "Get a new job" and "this is just part of the messy process of capitalism" aren't answers to those questions. "There is going to be increased demand for X people in Y time" is a meaningful answer to that question. Frankly, the problem is that all of the estimates we'd been getting about that are were way off and people are STILL operating on data that is 2-3 years old.

So far I've heard that apparently doctors and biologists are going to be in demand. Are they still going to be in demand later? Can't Indian people also learn biology? Does it really make sense to go back for another 5 years of school so that I can have another 3 years of meaningful work out of it?

There are real questions that a lot of people have, and no one has the guts to answer them.

BTW, the story you linked here is a wire service story. Interestingly the news service you linked it from cut off the last few paragraphs. I've included them here:

Many unemployed workers scoff at such conclusions.

They believe overseas competitors are putting so much downward pressure on salaries that young Americans will stop studying vital subjects involving engineering or computers.

Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, a group that supports free trade, said stories about workers losing their jobs should not be used to outlaw offshoring.

Some positions are being lost, but others are being created as companies lower their costs, he said.

"It's part of the messy process of capitalism," he said.