Decius wrote:
] You see, I understand the value of offshore outsourcing.
] I honestly think it's a great idea. However, there is a
] REAL problem with employment in the IT/Engineering industry.
]
] If you cannot take this on directly and discuss the
] implications of it in the face of offshoring, then you
] cannot defend offshoring.

To paraphrase Homer Simpson: "Statistics. Is there anything they can't do?"

You appear to be refuting the thesis of the article on the basis of an exception in a specific industry. I do not believe your argument (that a real problem exists in IT/EE) is incompatible with Drezner's overall assessment that offshore outsourcing does not affect most jobs.

A point that Drezner raises in his article, and that you do not directly address in your response, is that employment trends have as much to do with the large-scale structural shifts brought about by technological development as with the labor policies of big business.

As I've stated before, my view is that the source of the problem, as well as the solution, is education. The boom years produced a pool of 'engineering' and 'computer science' 'professionals' who viewed the learning process as one of accumulating a collection of key facts and demonstrating an ability to regurgitate them on cue. (By no means does that imply everyone is in that pool. EE/CS readers should not reflexively take offense. But if the shoe fits ...)

Just as Bruce Schneier says about security: engineering is a process, not a product. Going forward, "IT/Engineering" must be part of the service sector, not the manufacturing sector. Evidence of the problem can be found in the simple fact that people are still referring to it as an Industry.

Despite the stigma of statistics, I would be interested in seeing some data that shows the unemployment rate as a function of grade point average in college, both overall and by industry/specialty.

RE: The Outsourcing Bogeyman