Shortage Shouter Convention

Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2003 12:20 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

How much you want to bet these guys will say they need higher H-1B
limits?

It's rumored that Cheney will attend this meeting. He will enjoy
talking with his fellow CEOs that place greed over social
responsibility.

http://boston.internet.com/news/article.php/2212661

Leaders Confront Tech Talent Shortage

By Colin C. Haley
May 27, 2003

Given all the recent layoffs, you'd think the pipeline of engineering
talent would be the last thing troubling Massachusetts' CEOs. You'd be
wrong.

Several prominent execs say without a concerted effort by business,
political and educational leaders, the Bay State won't have enough
engineers to fill jobs when the economy rebounds.

The words of caution come in response to a new study from the
Engineering in Massachusetts Collaborative (EiMC), a statewide
public-private partnership led by Krishna Vedula, Dean of the College
of Engineering, UMass Lowell.

EiMC's research and policy paper, "Fueling the Pipeline: Attracting and
Educating Math and Science Students," will be discussed tomorrow at a
forum at EMC's Hopkinton, Mass., headquarters. The data storage giant
is an EiMC sponsor and one of the state's 20 largest employers.

"We in industry and state government and higher education are
committing to an agenda that will improve math and science education
and ensure that all of us are held accountable for delivering
measurable results," said Mike Ruettgers, EMC's executive chairman.

Greg Eden, an EMC spokesman, said the company employs about 3,000 of
its 17,000 worldwide employees are engineers. Of those, about 3 in 4
work on software.

"We have reduced our total workforce during the past two years," Eden
said. "At the same time we have bulked up in the the growing areas of
our businesss, specifically storage management software and
storage-related professional services."

Still, the company has had to rely on foreign workers through the H1B
visa program to fill the gaps, Eden said.

One of EiMC's worrisome findings is that the number students earning
scientific, engineering and IT udergraduate degrees at New England
schools declined in the 1990s.

So should be done to reverse the trend? The group, which will meet with
Gov. Mitt Romney tomorrow, is encouraging companies to work with local
schools and higher education to provide K-12 math and science teachers
with professional development opportunities. EMC today also announced a
training program for elementary school math and science teachers.

In addition, the group will advocate for: promoting statewide awareness
of local best practices and take steps to expand the pool of qualified
math teachers; and fully fund federal support for state-led efforts to
improve math and science education.

Editor's note: EiMC's complete report will be available at EMC's Web
site tomorrow.

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