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> Claims of shortages of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workers "have no support in fact and no connection to reality, " Have to say that's t

> Claims of shortages of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workers "have no support in fact and no connection to reality, " Have to say that's the evidence I find in much of the developed West. I watched a program in the UK last night where they were flouting the Government encouraged idea that over 100K new STEM graduates were needed a year - many of my friends leaving University with STEM degrees or thinking of enrolling on such degrees haven't bothered because job creation at that scale doesn't exist. With outsourcing and offshoring by the bucketload it's refreshing for this Ron Hira guy to point out the reality for many. Added link to summary of TV program if anyone is interested: http://www.itv.com/news/2014-01-16/tonight-is-britain-back-in-business/ http://www.itv.com/news/2014-01-16/tonight-is-britain-back-i...

moocowduckquack 13y ago
I think that many of the powers that be in the UK are very wary of a manufacturing economy. I suspect they equate it with an organised labour movement and that was part of the ideology behind the push for a post-industrial economy in the 1980's. I always found the idea of a post-industrial economy rather perplexing as it relies on the idea that we can design and manage the manufacturing of the rest of the world, but the skills required to do that are dependent on having manufacturing experience, which will die out in a generation without an industrial base in which to get the required skills.
- arethuza 13y ago
  "very wary of a manufacturing economy" Like the US, the UK still manufactures loads of stuff - it's just there aren't many people employed doing it and it's a much smaller percentage of the economy than it used to be. e.g. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/22/manufacturing_figures/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/22/manufacturing_figure...
bchjam 13y ago
I think the govt is pushing STEM more out of a desire for its perceived competitive advantage than anything to do with today's job market
- planetjones 13y ago
  I think they have to push something and STEM is what the frontbench in Government perceive as cool - no doubt their management consultants concur! Plus they're struggling to sell financial services as a viable career at the moment - though that's another example of where jobs are flowing East. The program I watched was also interesting as it followed HSBC who had brought call centre jobs back from India to the UK - what it failed to mention is that the higher paying STEM based jobs are moving (rapidly) in the opposite direction!
  - mason55 13y ago
    > Plus they're struggling to sell financial services as a viable career at the moment - though that's another example of where jobs are flowing East. FinServ is a great target for offshoring, even better than software IMO. The tasks are more rote/routine and well defined which makes it much easier to send it to a cheap team in India. The big concern is the competitive advantage of the information but if you just work as a clearinghouse then it's not as big of a deal since the information is not proprietary. A friend of mine works at a financial research offshoring company and they were just acquired by Moody's.

moocowduckquack 13y ago

I think that many of the powers that be in the UK are very wary of a manufacturing economy. I suspect they equate it with an organised labour movement and that was part of the ideology behind the push for a post-industrial economy in the 1980's. I always found the idea of a post-industrial economy rather perplexing as it relies on the idea that we can design and manage the manufacturing of the rest of the world, but the skills required to do that are dependent on having manufacturing experience, which will die out in a generation without an industrial base in which to get the required skills.

arethuza 13y ago
"very wary of a manufacturing economy" Like the US, the UK still manufactures loads of stuff - it's just there aren't many people employed doing it and it's a much smaller percentage of the economy than it used to be. e.g. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/22/manufacturing_figures/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/22/manufacturing_figure...

bchjam 13y ago

I think the govt is pushing STEM more out of a desire for its perceived competitive advantage than anything to do with today's job market

planetjones 13y ago
I think they have to push something and STEM is what the frontbench in Government perceive as cool - no doubt their management consultants concur! Plus they're struggling to sell financial services as a viable career at the moment - though that's another example of where jobs are flowing East. The program I watched was also interesting as it followed HSBC who had brought call centre jobs back from India to the UK - what it failed to mention is that the higher paying STEM based jobs are moving (rapidly) in the opposite direction!
- mason55 13y ago
  > Plus they're struggling to sell financial services as a viable career at the moment - though that's another example of where jobs are flowing East. FinServ is a great target for offshoring, even better than software IMO. The tasks are more rote/routine and well defined which makes it much easier to send it to a cheap team in India. The big concern is the competitive advantage of the information but if you just work as a clearinghouse then it's not as big of a deal since the information is not proprietary. A friend of mine works at a financial research offshoring company and they were just acquired by Moody's.