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Is American programming/engineering dying?

G

gamepad

Golden Member
I really don't know much about this type of field which is why I want to ask you guys (AT seems like a good place to ask).

These days, it seems like engineering/programming is just another blue collar job like shoe manufacturing. Why would an American company hire American laborers when they can outsource.

I read that between 2004 and 2005, the number of CS undergraduates at MIT dropped by 17%. Electrical engineering is going down the drain too.

I really want to get a degree in CS, but I don't think it would be very wise.

Can anyone explain to me what this field is really like? Should I switch over to investment banking?
 
I dunno, I am graduating with an MSEE next spring and have had or will have interviews lined up with Intel, AMD, nvidia, Micron, and TI (so far).

I won't make the bold assumption that I am going to stay in engineering forever (I plan on getting an MBA at some point), but I think your claim is a bit extreme based on my experiences. It seems like all of the hi-tech companies are still hiring americans.

In fact, I spoke to some reps from Intel who said they tried outsourcing major EE designs awhile back and it didn't work out too well.
 
Programming is being outsourced from what I read. I belive software engineering is not outsourced.. yet or can't really be outsourced. EEs is dropping because not many companies need them atm. It could be other reasons too, like not many college students taking EE or those in EE already is sufficient enough.


You can go for CS and then go into software engineering. Aren't engineers thinkers, not physically laborers? When I mean physical, I mean like the army or construction worker type labor.
 
You can go for CS and then go into software engineering. Aren't engineers thinkers, not physically laborers? When I mean physical, I mean like the army or construction worker type labor.
Click to expand...


It may not be physical labor but it still seems like labor. A software engineer comes up with an idea and guidelines for a program, and he has programmers do all the hard work.
 
Well the "boom" is over. It took me over two years after graduating college till I found a "real" job as a computer scientist/software engineer. Before then I was working in high volume call centers doing the tech support gig.
 
If your skillset is in programming, or circuit building, then probably yes.

If you are going for a job at the system design level, management level, or in academia or governent, then there will always be plenty of jobs.

Its the low level techies / programmers whos jobs are in danger...
 
Of the twenty or more developers I've worked with over the last few years, I'm not aware of any of them having changed career fields or losing a job to outsourcing.
 
Originally posted by: wasssup
Well the "boom" is over. It took me over two years after graduating college till I found a "real" job as a computer scientist/software engineer. Before then I was working in high volume call centers doing the tech support gig.
Click to expand...

Is the market is saturated with software engineers right now?

I wonder if database administrating is still hot.
 
Originally posted by: bignateyk
If your skillset is in programming, or circuit building, then probably yes.

If you are going for a job at the system design level, management level, or in academia or governent, then there will always be plenty of jobs.

Its the low level techies / programmers whos jobs are in danger...
Click to expand...

How do I get to those kinds of jobs? Would I just major in CS and minor in business, or dual major?
 
Originally posted by: gamepad
Originally posted by: wasssup
Well the "boom" is over. It took me over two years after graduating college till I found a "real" job as a computer scientist/software engineer. Before then I was working in high volume call centers doing the tech support gig.
Click to expand...

Is the market is saturated with software engineers right now?

I wonder if database administrating is still hot.
Click to expand...

Go into what you enjoy. If you truly enjoy your job it is noticed, your quality of work is great, and the money will eventually follow.
 
My guess would be that quality engineers would be in demand no matter what. That's the case where I am, anyway, as we're looking for dev/analysis type people for our team.
 
Originally posted by: gamepad
You can go for CS and then go into software engineering. Aren't engineers thinkers, not physically laborers? When I mean physical, I mean like the army or construction worker type labor.
Click to expand...


It may not be physical labor but it still seems like labor. A software engineer comes up with an idea and guidelines for a program, and he has programmers do all the hard work.
Click to expand...


That?s what I did. I got my masters In CS and I work as software engineer.
 
Originally posted by: gamepad
Originally posted by: bignateyk
If your skillset is in programming, or circuit building, then probably yes.

If you are going for a job at the system design level, management level, or in academia or governent, then there will always be plenty of jobs.

Its the low level techies / programmers whos jobs are in danger...
Click to expand...

How do I get to those kinds of jobs? Would I just major in CS and minor in business, or dual major?
Click to expand...


well.. everyones gotta start somewhere so chances are you wont get one of those jobs right off the bat unless you have some combination of a masters, mba, or phd, or second degree in business...

otherwise youll probably be doing some low level work to start with, and it may or may not be hard to find something good in this regard, but you just need to work your way up..

you just dont wanna get into the mindset that you can keep advancing career-wise by doing nothing but programming work..
 
I'm actually in process of learning Ruby, specifically for Rails to program some nich web based business ideas I've had recently.
I also hope to be able to pick up a some freelance coding projects now and again, from what I hear there is work to be had.

I will say as a power user it is extremely useful to know how to write scripts.
 
Anyone can learn programming. Hell, I know more programming than most 2-3 year CS majors. And I'm not even a computer-related major. That's why they're so easily outsourced. Someone could just spend 2 years at a community college and get a degree for it.
 
Originally posted by: invidia
Anyone can learn programming. Hell, I know more programming than most 2-3 year CS majors. And I'm not even a computer-related major. That's why they're so easily outsourced. Someone could just spend 2 years at a community college and get a degree for it.
Click to expand...
Simple logic.

Syntax can be a bitch for some languages. That is the true beauty of Ruby though.
 
Originally posted by: tweakmm
Originally posted by: invidia
Anyone can learn programming. Hell, I know more programming than most 2-3 year CS majors. And I'm not even a computer-related major. That's why they're so easily outsourced. Someone could just spend 2 years at a community college and get a degree for it.
Click to expand...
Simple logic.

Syntax can be a bitch for some languages. That is the true beauty of Ruby though.
Click to expand...

Ruby is one of the sweetest languages out there right now. Syntax is easy and predictable in it's usage, plus it has some nice features: object oriented, functions are first-class objects, perl like features where useful, etc.
 
Originally posted by: jman19
Originally posted by: tweakmm
Originally posted by: invidia
Anyone can learn programming. Hell, I know more programming than most 2-3 year CS majors. And I'm not even a computer-related major. That's why they're so easily outsourced. Someone could just spend 2 years at a community college and get a degree for it.
Click to expand...
Simple logic.

Syntax can be a bitch for some languages. That is the true beauty of Ruby though.
Click to expand...

Ruby is one of the sweetest languages out there right now. Syntax is easy and predictable in it's usage, plus it has some nice features: object oriented, functions are first-class objects, perl like features where useful, etc.
Click to expand...
That's what I keep hearing.
I've been programing on and off for a decade now and ruby code is simply amazing to look at.
 
The programming and low-level engineering is for the most part to be considered a stepping stone in one's career. I use the term developer to classify a person who meshes business sense and tactics and applies programming skills, both his/her own and those of his developer team, to solve them. You'd be surprised at how crucial this role is and how badly it's usually fulfilled.

Dropping rates of people entering the field for educaiton sounds great to me. More demand for my skills? Hell, abolish CS programs entirely! 😛
 
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