Host First in a Series of Bipartisan Policy Discussions on Job Saving Solutions
(Washington, DC) Today, Science Committee Ranking Member Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Rep. Jerry Costello (D-IL) hosted the first in a series of bipartisan discussions on realities facing the science and technology industry and our U.S. workers.
“America’s human resources are the basis of our innovation capabilities and these underpin our economic strength and national security,” stated Rep. Gordon.
Expert panelists from industry and academia addressed current challenges regarding the continued loss of science and technology jobs to overseas locations. “What we hope to accomplish today is to gain a better understanding of what the actual effects of off-shoring jobs are on our workforce and economy. Better information on this problem is needed in order to make appropriate public policy decisions as they relate to tech workers and other industries,” added Rep. Costello.
Current trends are disturbing. The U.S. has low enrollment in university science and engineering by women and minorities; a heavy-dependence on foreign labor in our workforce, coupled with a declining interest by foreign students in attending U.S. universities; increasing numbers of well-trained scientists and engineers in India and China and other low-labor-cost countries; and an apparent trend for US companies to expand their off-shoring of science and engineering jobs.
“Although many reports have been issued and many recommendations have been made, we really have little data on the state of our science and engineering workforce – both nationally and internationally. Unless we can frame the problem, we won’t be able to develop real solutions,” exclaimed Rep. Gordon. “I have doubts based on our lack of understanding of the scope and causes of the problem that any simple fix exists.”
Science Democratic Members pointed out that – except in a rhetorical sense – the loss of domestic S&T jobs has not been seriously addressed, and the consequences of doing nothing could be profound. What’s more, U.S. Federal research and development (R&D) funding over the last decade and a half is faltering.
“This is not a partisan issue. Members of both parties need to come together, roll up our sleeves and seriously study the off-shoring of U.S. jobs. Our economy depends on it. Other countries are now investing heavily in their high-tech infrastructure and producing highly educated workers and cutting-edge companies. They are catching up to the United States,” continued Rep. Costello.
It is difficult to determine how many jobs have actually been lost in recent years because there is a lack of sufficient or accurate data on the problem. For example, the U.S. Labor Dept. reported as part of a new survey that 4,633 jobs moved overseas during the first three months of 2004. Yet, a report by a large Indian trade group known as the National Association of Software and Service Companies suggests that outsourcing from the U.S. is creating huge numbers of jobs in that country – around 200,000 technology jobs at the end of May last year (2004).
Panelist Michael Teitelbaum, a program director with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation said that the truth of the matter is that, “no person or organization known to me has any credible way of forecasting what science and engineering sectors of the U.S. economy will look like in 2010 or 2012.”
Even with the lack of credible data, offshoring’s effect on U.S. education and educational institutions is evident. Of the twenty-five to thirty percent of students who intend to major in science and engineering fields on entering college, less than half of those earn a degree in those fields within 5 years. “In the U.S. labor market, there are attractive career opportunities that do not require years of advanced science and engineering training,” stated Dr. George Langford, Dartmouth professor and Immediate Past Chairman of the National Science Board Committee on Education and Human Resources.
“It is not simply coincidence that the IT job market in India is red hot, while the U.S. market languishes,” added Dr. Ron Hira, a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology and author of the new book Outsourcing America: What’s Behind our National Crisis and How We Can Reclaim American Jobs. “The U.S. needs a coordinated national strategy to sustain its technological leadership and promote job creation in response to the concerted strategies being used by other countries to attract U.S. industries and jobs.”
“If we don’t determine what tomorrow will look like, others will determine it for us,” commented panelist and former Congressman Dave McCurdy, President of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA). He cited findings from a recent report compiled by EIA that put forth ‘policy solutions’ designed to “allow the U.S. to continue to enjoy world leadership and realize the benefits of free trade.”
“‘We don’t know,’ can no longer be an acceptable explanation to this offshoring trend,” concluded Rep. Gordon. “We’ll have as many of these discussions as it takes to get the straight answers and determine the solutions that our U.S. students, workers and industries deserve.”
Witness biographies and testimony can be found on the Science Democrats’ website: www.house.gov/science_democrats/archive/workevent/workforce_event.htm.
This roundtable is the first in a series. Future event details will be posted as information is available.
