CNET is running a report on the “Task Force on the Future of American Innovation” report recently released. The task force members include Intel, Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, the American Mathematical Society, and the National Association of Manufacturers. The report states that our “tech edge” is disappearing, and we’re in danger of “losing our economic competitiveness”.
The task force recommends much higher levels of federal spending in R&D, more support and breaks for companies heavily pursuing R&D, and legislation changes to attract more intelligent students and workers. Big surprise.
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Wait a moment… “legislation changes to attract more bright students and workers”?
Since when is an American government funded (read American citizen taxpayer funded)research program’s goal supposed to include (directly or indirectly) attracting non-American workers/students? What’s wrong with the highly intelligent workers right here in this country already? What’s wrong with the highly intelligent, hard working people you (tech corporations) laid off over the last 10 years because you hired more and more H1B visa workers to replace them? What’s wrong with the 30,35, 40, 45 and 50 year old engineers you laid off because you wanted fresh out of school workers who cost less, “brought new ideas”, and “knew” the latest technology? Of course then you complained they didn’t have the chops necessary to be productive. What about how you complained about the fact that H1B visa workers returned home and were hard to replace? You certainly didn’t complain that we were hard to replace with H1B visa holders when it was convenient. You are some of the same companies and people who claimed that hiring H1B visas, etc. was just part of becoming a “global company”, and wouldn’t hurt America, etc. You are now telling us we’ve slipped from #1 and it’s a crisis? Am I missing something?
You want the federal government, and therefore my tax dollars, to fund your R&D efforts, but you aren’t willing to hire me, or any of my qualified neighbors to be a part of that research? (”We’re looking for a younger candidate”, “you’re overqualified”, “we can’t afford to pay what you’re worth”, “you would be bored” — I’ve heard them all, and frankly they’re all BS!) No, you want to bring other workers in from around the world to do it, teach and train them, sharpen their skills and then, in many cases, watch as they return home. At which point you will bitch and moan about how hard it is to replace them, and how we have to have xx many slots at each state funded university reserved for student visa holders and another xxx,000 permanent H1B workers each year. Thanks but no thanks.
You made this mess. Why don’t you really step up to the plate and start cleaning it up? Sure I’ll grant you, it would be nice to have more federally funded research. Your companies already get significant tax breaks along with patent and other protections in return for your R&D efforts, even when it’s not federally funded, so you won’t get too much sympathy on that count. Your call for bringing in more “bright” talent from overseas — because obviously there isn’t enough here — will only delay the slipping, and not by much, if at all. Not that we must or even should remain #1. From my point of view we probably don’t deserve it any more.
By the way there are a couple thousand unemployed and underemployed, extremely bright, disabled veterans and ex-military out there who would love to work for you, if given half a chance. Most would require retraining, some a little, some a lot. But any programmer or engineer fresh out of school takes training and retraining to be productive too. Besides, the Veteran’s Department is committed to retraining many of them. There’s a partnership opportunity, if I ever saw one. Or maybe you should take a page from the military — find and recruit bright kids from high school, junior colleges and even early undergraduate programs and give them extensive, but performance dependant, scholarships in return for a set work commitment to you after graduation. Oh, don’t forget the professionals you laid off when the bubble burst. Many of them are damn good. Most have kept up on technology, learning new languages and skills, and a lot of them would love to get fully back in the game. In the meantime, definitely bring in the brightest minds from overseas. Just be sure you also fully tap the brightest from home at the same time.
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