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Chris McManes Unemployment
Rate for Electrical Engineers WASHINGTON (28 April 2003) — The unemployment rate for electrical engineers (EEs) rose to an unprecedented 7.0 percent in the first quarter of 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The rate stood at 3.9 percent in the previous quarter, and is a full percentage point above the quarterly figure for all workers. The previous high quarterly EE jobless rate was 4.8 percent (second quarter, 2002). It's difficult to compare the figures, however, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has revamped its occupational classifications and reporting conventions to produce more detailed and accurate reports. "Despite the change in the bureau's accounting and reporting methods, these unemployment figures are alarming," IEEE-USA President-Elect John Steadman said. "We knew anecdotally that things were bad for many in engineering and computer fields, and these statistics confirm our concerns for engineering employment." The BLS report showed an unemployment rate for computer software engineers at 7.5 percent, and at 6.5 percent for computer hardware engineers, two of the bureau's new occupational categories. Computer scientists, including systems analysts, showed a slight improvement in joblessness, dropping from 5.1 percent at the end of 2002 to 4.9 percent. Computer programmers recorded a first-quarter rate of 6.7 percent. When the number of unemployed EEs is added to each of the above computer categories, 172,000 high-tech professionals are out of work. Computer software engineers led the way with 62,000. To help mitigate unemployment for U.S. high-tech professionals, IEEE-USA is calling on Congress to return the H-1B visa quota to its historical level of 65,000. The current cap is 195,000. IEEE-USA is also concerned about potential abuses in the L-1 intracompany visa transfer program. Business Week magazine reported in March that 329,000 people were working in the United States on L-1 visas in 2001, many in high-tech sectors. "While we realize the sluggish U.S. economy is responsible for much of the unemployment," Steadman said, "we can't discount the role played by the continuing influx of foreign workers on temporary work visas, and the dramatic increase in offshore outsourcing. Congress needs to create incentives that help to spur the growth and retention of high-value, high-tech jobs here in the United States." 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.
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November 2002 |