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Ensuring a Strong, High-Tech Work Force
April 28, 2000
Contact: Allison Sayler
Te: 202-296-2237, ext. 14
Email: asayler@aaes.org
A thoughtful and comprehensive strategy for building a strong high-tech workforce in the 21st century is needed. The Engineers' Public Policy Council (EPPC) of the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) believes that such a strategy must include two essential elements: improved educational opportunities for U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents; and balanced reforms to expedite the permanent immigration of skilled foreign-born engineers and scientists while safeguarding the rights of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.
At the dawn of the 21st Century, labor markets for qualified high-tech workers, including engineers and computer scientists, are tight in all parts of the country. Many employers insist that the nation faces growing high-tech workforce shortages and are urging Congress to approve substantial increases in the numbers of foreign technical professionals admitted to work temporarily in the United States as the most expedient way to meet their current and projected workforce requirements.
While demand for qualified technical professionals is up sharply since the mid-1990's and will likely continue to increase as the economy continues to grow, EPPC believes that the domestic supply of talent needed to meet this demand is broader and more resilient than assumed. We see opportunities for re-training of mid-career and late-career workers and for involvement of persons with high-tech skills that were developed in a wide range of application areas.
AAES believes that guest worker programs should be truly temporary in nature, reduced in duration and numbers to reflect the specific needs of educational and esearch institutions and other short term employment demands. We also believe there should be continuing and thorough review of the H-1B visa program to ensure that it does not adversely affect the employment opportunities of U.S. citizens and permanent residents or discourage U.S. students from pursuing high-tech careers.
Because of the need to sustain a strong high-tech workforce to ensure America's future economical competitiveness in the 21st century, EPPC makes the following recommendations:
Immigration Reform Recommendations
We recommend that legal permanent immigrants be the preferred source of supply for skilled technical professionals and other knowledge workers needed to satisfy labor market demands that can not be met through enhanced education and training opportunities for American workers. EPPC urges employer and employee organizations to work together to support enactment of balanced reforms in the nation's permanent immigration system, including:
Changes in the Permanent Admissions Process: Promote balanced reforms in the nation's legal immigration system that will streamline processing and expedite the permanent admission of well-qualified, foreign-born knowledge workers; and Safeguards for U.S. Citizens: Ensure that the expedited admission of foreign born professionals does not adversely affect educational and employment opportunities for similarly qualified U.S. citizens.
AAES notes that the great majority of guestworkers currently apply for permanent immigrant status during their stay. The current multi-year waits for processing of status adjustments will get significantly longer if hundreds of thousands of guestworkers are added to the line. Therefore, AAES believes that permanent immigration coupled with streamlined immigration processing is essential not only to meet employment needs but also to ensure fundamental fairness to non-U.S. workers seeking to immigrate.
Educational Reform Recommendations
EPPC urges American business organizations, educational institutions, government agencies, labor unions and professional societies to make substantial, long-term commitments to improving education, training and lifelong learning opportunities for U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. More specifically, EPPC recommends that each of these key players work collaboratively to support:
Precollege Education: Make fundamental improvements in the quality of instruction in math, science, communications and problem-solving skills in grades K-12, not only to prepare more students for careers in science and engineering, but also to increase the technological literacy of all Americans;
Post-Secondary Education: Increase the cost-effectiveness and relevance of technical and professional science, engineering and technology education programs in the nation's two- and four -year colleges and universities;
Continuing Education and Training: Enable more professional, technical and support personnel – in the manufacturing and service sectors – to obtain the continuing education and training they need to remain productive in rapidly changing, technology-driven occupations;
Education Technology: Make better use of new and emerging Internet-based technologies to meet changing individual needs and enhance the effectiveness, convenience and affordability of traditional and non-traditional instruction;
Under Represented Groups: Improve technical educational and employment opportunities for members of groups that are under represented in scientific and engineering fields. These include women, minorities, handicapped, economically disadvantaged and, in certain fields, older Americans.
AAES is a federation of engineering societies dedicated to advancing the knowledge, understanding, and practice of engineering. Its member societies represent more than one million U.S. engineers in industry, government and academia. The AAES Engineers' Public Policy Council is chartered to address public policy issues on behalf of AAES as a voice for the engineering community.