PHDBIRD mentioned in the previous Maths and Science Post
I’d be inclined to agree that money’s the issue. I met an engineer recently who mentioned that they earned almost as much as a medical doctor when they were working in Germany. I’d love to know if the shortage of engineers is eliminated over there.
I had a bit of a google and came across this Finanical Times article.
Engineers, in particular, are in increasingly short supply and finding them has become a serious bottleneck for the country’s large industrial sector. Business federations reckon German companies fail to fill 400,000 positions for university graduates every year, at a cost to them of €20bn ($32bn, £16bn).
These figures are controversial and rough estimates at best. Yet no one is contesting the data for engineering alone, for which solid statistics are plentiful. According to data extrapolated from Federal Labour Agency statistics, the IW economic institute in Cologne estimates there are 75,000 to 95,000 positions for engineers that are not being filled for lack of suitable candidates, up to 30 per cent higher than last year.
and
“We are certainly facing a serious skills shortage in the future,” says Franziska Schreyer, an economist at the IAB. “But right now we have 20,000 unemployed engineers, not to mention the large number of women who leave engineering for other careers every year.” Polls of young graduates show entry salaries for engineers have fallen since 2001, suggesting today’s skills shortage could perhaps be solved by higher salaries and better working conditions, she says – not by courting cheaper labour.
So basically that enginner was lucky. Germany is trying to solve the problem by importing the talent. Is that what we should do?
0 Thriftcriminal Aug 21st, 2008 at 7:24 pm
It is a solution. In fact I believe the government wants to import most of the knowledge economy, it certainly isn’t generating it from the grass roots level. Quick fix: import some students and professors and do a lot of marketing. Way of the world today really. I still prefer the CEP, and Fair Eng: “Ensuring fair wages for western engineers in the face of eastern competition”
0 phdbird Aug 21st, 2008 at 10:23 pm
The job in question was more senior than entry-level. But, yeah, that article is worrying stuff. There are jobs going here and abroad and students still can’t be convinced science and engineering are worth it. Importing talent is an idea but if the conditions are lower than other professions it still doesn’t give scientists and engineers their dues for what they contribute to our economy.