Make sure we have jobs for high school graduates (Good Read)

Posted on Tue, May 27, 2008

We should think about giving our high school seniors less tests and more jobs. What's the point of making our seniors the best and the brightest if they have no jobsfiWe not only need to keep jobs for the best and the brightest, we need to make sure we keep jobs here for all kinds of students, from A to D.

While India remains the leader for outsourcing, other countries are stepping up to the plate. China, Malaysia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, South Africa and Mexico are also contenders for U.S. outsourcing.

Between 2001 and 2004, nearly 3 million manufacturing jobs were lost to plants overseas, according to Goldsea Success. During that same period an estimated 400,000 to 600,000 professional services jobs were moved overseas. Of those, about 150,000 were in the software industry. And it's estimated that the total value of outsourced state and federal tech projects will grow from $10 billion in 2003 to $23 billion in 2008.

We need good legislation in place to help thwart the "Let's go get cheap labor" movement.


The exodus of jobs from our shores to others is a result of NAFTA and the WTO, Congressman Dennis Kucinich believes (D-Ohio).

We need strong legislation and Fair Trade policies to ebb the tide. For instance, in America, the typical salary for a computer programmer is $70,000 a year compared to an annual salary of $8,000 in India. U.S.companies are expected to ship another 200,000 jobs to India in the near future, according to Kucinich.

More and more American companies are moving overseas to have products made to be shipped back to the United States to feed our hungry consumers.

Who reaps the benefits? Well, it's not going to be our graduating seniors because they won't be manufacturing the goods unless they move out of the country.

Let's concentrate on making sure our students have jobs to apply for instead of asking our school districts to shell out more money for tests.



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lots of low wage service jobs are still around - all the good jobs are heading over seas

Why does Dennis seem to be the only elected official screaming this from the rooftops?

Very true on the testing.

"Who reaps the benefits? Well, it's not going to be our graduating seniors because they won't be manufacturing the goods unless they move out of the country"

Most countries prohibit foreigners from coming in and participating in their labor markets. The only way these US students will be able to do this is if they get a work visa.

Good luck getting a work visa.

I got into the tech industry as a salesmonkey in a small 3 person shop. Moved out because $6.00/hr wasn't enough unless I lived with my parents.

I moved to a bigger city, and built computers for an 8 person shop. Best Buy killed that shop.

I got a job as a technical support agent. Then moved up into training and mentoring roles. My employer sought cheaper labor in India.

So, you want into the tech industry now? Work at Best Buy for nothing. Or somehow pay for an electrical/computer engineering degree and try to get in that way.

We can't be a services economy if only 20% can afford to buy those services.

n/t

I have always been pro-union. The hurt to unions is a BIG part of this problem.

There is no reason an American company could not build cheaper cars for US drivers. Even with union workers. Look at the dumb decisions by Ford, GM - we can't count Chrysler anymore - and how many cars are built outside the USA but sold as Ford or GM. I bought a Honda 3 months ago because it is built in the USA! That is a disgrace.

I have posted this repeatedly - if we had national health insurance we would regain a large part of our manufacturing base.