Contact:
Chris McManes Engineers Seek Support from Congress to Combat Unemployment, Take Message to Capitol Hill WASHINGTON (25 October 2002) On 21 October, IEEE-USA President LeEarl Bryant and U.S. IEEE Member Stephen Morton distributed more than 500 leaflets, titled "American Engineers at Risk," on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. According to Bryant, the purpose of the distribution was to raise awareness and gain support for IEEE-USA efforts to reduce joblessness among engineers. IEEE-USA's recommendations on how the U.S. Congress can help solve the growing unemployment problem include: reducing the annual H-1B visa quota; redirecting H-1B visa funded skills training programs to aid displaced engineers; and jump-starting the economy. The leaflet also identified key factors contributing to the engineering employment crisis, including include: increasing dependence by employers on temporary guest-workers; perma-temping (or substitution of part-time contract workers with few benefits for full-time employees with health and retirement benefits); and outsourcing of engineering jobs to low cost, offshore locations. IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers created in 1973 to promote the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 235,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society. For more information, go to http://www.ieeeusa.org.
1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202 Washington, DC 20036-5104 Phone: 202-785-0017, Fax: 202-785-0835 | Top of Page | News Releases | IEEE News | IEEE | IEEE-USA | Last Updated: 14
October 2002 |
||||||||
