Volcker bemoans lack of interest in real engineering
I just saw Paul Volcker on CNN this morning, chatting with Fareed Zakaria and bemoaning the fact that young people don’t want to go into mechanical or civil or chemical engineering—they want to head to Wall Street instead. He repeated his assertion that the ATM is the most significant financial innovation of recent times, and he pointed out that it’s actually the result of mechanical engineering—and not financial engineering. (He could have given some credit to the electrical engineers, but we will let that pass.)
Danielle commented:
Hi Im a schoolteacher in caotilhc university school. I need to know what events are taking place in Dublin city. Our school has junior infants up to 6th class and I want to make sure we dont miss out like we did last year.Please let me know as soon as possible.many thanks,Orlagh
Rich commented:
Ever since GE CEO Jack Welsch decided to make engineers into "day workers" back in sort of 1988 by getting rid of pensions etc. so they would be easier to fire because they lost nothing that required long term employment or was overseen by some gov't agency the engineering profession has gone down hill. There is no good economic reason to be an engineer. The jobs have no security. As soon as the project ends and a new one isn't right there to replace it, you are on the street. You may get 2 weeks severence if your lucky. That's the present state of ther industry. I couldn't advise anyone to study it. When engineers were valuable, maybe into the late 70's you received pensions, medical plans, trips to conferences, and worked a 40 hr week. Today, typically engineers get no pensions, 401k plan contributions that put the whole weight on your shoulders to guess what to invest in and what sort of a payout to take so the your savings and your life expire on the same day and if you guessed wrong too bad and a 60 hr week is expected. All that crap about family friendly companies is wink, wink, nod, nod because when the decision is being made about who to downsize the sucker who works an 80 hr week survives over the 60 hr week every time. If you want to study something that society values, maybe its accounting.
Nick Sr commented:
This is another jobless recovery as has been happening the last decade. Have a recession and the jobs get cut and plants disappear and they reappear in Asia or Mexico for the benefit of the multi-million dollar bonus financial turds.
SanJose commented:
It is all about having a financial future. A top notch Engineer makes less than a typical paper pusher in wall street, that is a big problem. And, if the Engineer makes a mistake, then there in no extra $$ for messing things up and no uncle Sam to bail him.
EE in training commented:
From my perspective and colleagues, it's not a lack of interest. It's a lack night school engineering programs at our our state universities. EE Techs like my self would jump at the chance to pursue a BSEE but can't afford to work part time. I think many young people like I once was aren't really sure what they want upon recieving their diploma. It may take 5 - 10 years to realize their interest is in engineering only to find out they missed their chance.
Engineer in search of a new career commented:
The truth of the matter is we are shipping our engineering jobs to the Far East along with all our manufacturing jobs because the Wall Street types want companies to be more profitable, so that the stock price will go up and the dividends increase.
I should have gone to law school when I had the chance but I love the creativity of engineering. Of course all I am doing these days is monitoring the "creativity" of the foreign engineers who are doing the job I used to do.
over50engineer commented:
The brightest minds do follow the path with the highest return. Follow career paths for the top 5% of graduates. The first 5 years is pretty equal for those in the financial/legal professions and engineering. BUT after those 5 years the earnings curve keeps bending upwards for the financial and legal professions, but flattens out for those in the scientific and engineering fields. It does not take too much thinking to see which fields will attract the brightest minds. And these differences also apply to those in the middle also.
OlderEE commented:
The reason 50+ year old engineers have difficulty finding jobs is not because we don't keep up to date with technology, but because managers would rather hire people just out of college to work at an entry level salary. Volcker shouldn't encourage more children to enter the engineering field. They'll be 50+ someday too.
Engineer 1 commented:
Paul Volcker knows less about engineering than I do about economics. There is an awful glut of engineers and scientists in the U.S. and the world right now and we don't need more. I suppose though that there is also an awful glut of economists in the U.S. and the world right now and we don't need more. What we need are people who are willing to be painters, brick and concrete masons, roofers, photographers, carpenters, dentists and opticians, landscapers, automotive technicians, plumbers, etc.
