Brian,

if you get that call, remember that you need a "bad" guy.

Germans usually qualify ;-) (Gerd Froebe, Curd Juergens, Goetz Otto,
Gottfried John) Not that I am close to their leaguage.

Have a nice weekend
Michael




On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 12:54:25 -0400, Brian Donaldson <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

><<Snip>>
>
>Some experts think they'll (programmers) become extinct within the next few
>years, forced into unemployment or new careers...>>
>
>Yep, I've already changed my career.
>
>Now I'm just waiting for that first phone call from Mr. Spielberg to give
>me my first *BIG* break..........
>
>
>Brian "the next 007" Donaldson.
>
>
>On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 10:29:20 -0400, Michael Baier
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>>Wish GWB had said on Wednesday what the 21st century jobs are.
>>Seems it aint programmer. Maybe manager at McD or Wendys?
>>
>>Endangered species: US programmers
>>By David R. Francis, The Christian Science Monitor
>>
>>Say goodbye to the American software programmer. Once the symbols of hope
>>as the nation shifted from manufacturing to service jobs, programmers
today
>>are an endangered species. They face a challenge similar to that which
>>shrank the ranks of steelworkers and autoworkers a quarter century ago:
>>competition from foreigners.
>>
>>Some experts think they'll become extinct within the next few years,
forced
>>into unemployment or new careers by a combination of offshoring of their
>>work to India and other low-wage countries and the arrival of skilled
>>immigrants taking their jobs.
>>
>>Not everybody agrees programmers will disappear completely. But even the
>>optimists believe that many basic programming jobs will go to foreign
>>nations, leaving behind jobs for Americans to lead and manage software
>>projects. The evidence is already mounting that many computer jobs are
>>endangered, prompting concern about the future of the nation's high-tech
>>industries.
>>
>>Since the dotcom bust in 2000-2001, nearly a quarter of California
>>technology workers have taken nontech jobs, according to a study of 1
>>million workers released last week by Sphere Institute, a San Francisco
Bay
>>Area public policy group. The jobs they took often paid less. Software
>>workers were hit especially hard. Another 28% have dropped off
California's
>>job rolls altogether. They fled the state, became unemployed, or decided
on
>>self-employment.
>>
>>The problem is not limited to California.
>>
>>Although computer-related jobs in the United States increased by 27,000
>>between 2001 and 2003, about 180,000 new foreign H-1B workers in the
>>computer area entered the nation, calculates John Miano, an expert with
the
>>Programmers Guild, a professional society. "This suggests any gain of jobs
>>have been taken by H-1B workers," he says.
>>
>>H-1B visas allow skilled foreigners to live and work in the US for up to
>>six years. Many are able to get green cards in a first step to
citizenship.
>>Another visa, L-1, allows multinational companies to transfer workers from
>>foreign operations into the US.
>>
>>The H-1B visa has been highly controversial for years. This fiscal year,
>>Congress set a quota of 65,000 visas, which was snapped up immediately
>>after they became available Oct.1. Now, US business is pleading for
>>Congress to let in more such workers.
>>
>>The US Chamber of Commerce, for instance, wants Congress to revisit the
>>cap "to ensure American business has access to the talent it needs to help
>>keep our economy strong."
>>
>>That rationale makes no sense to the Programmers Guild and other groups
>>that have sprung up to resist the tech visas. Since more than 100,000
>>American programmers are unemployed - and many more are underemployed -
the
>>existing 65,000 quota is inexcusably high, they argue. H-1B and L-1 visas
>>are "American worker replacement programs," says the National Hire
American
>>Citizens Society.
>>
>>Further, the H-1B program, set up in 1990, is flawed, critics charge. For
>>example, employers are not required to recruit Americans before resorting
>>to hiring H-1Bs, says Norman Matloff, a computer science professor at the
>>University of California, Davis.
>>
>>And the requirement that employers pay H-1Bs a "prevailing wage" is
>>useless, he adds, because the law is riddled with loopholes. Nor are even
>>any remaining regulations enforced.
>>
>>The average wage for an American programmer runs about $60,000, says John
>>Bauman, who set up the Organization for the Rights of American Workers.
>>Employers pay H-1Bs an average $53,000.
>>
>>A programmer, Mr. Bauman was out of work for 20 months before finally
>>taking a job with a 40% pay cut. His experience is common enough that
>>programmers are organizing to fight in Congress against H-1B and L-1
visas.
>>
>>But they face an uphill battle, says Mr. Miano, as business groups are far
>>better organized and funded than the smattering of programmer
groups. "They
>>have the best legislation money can buy," he says.
>>
>>Miano sees such a dim future for programmers that he decided to enter law
>>school. "I saw the handwriting on the wall," he says.
>>
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