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Thankful stuff, stuffing and turkeys...
November 19, 2007

1. It's Thanksgiving week, so... We should start by being thankful that in a time of war, we can pause for some peace. Not everyone is this lucky, and not everyone believes there is still much to be thankful for. These are tough times, with no simple solutions to our problems. Yet, in the midst of those troubles, it is important to step back and look around and be thankful for the abundant bounty we do have.

2. Workforce development, Part 1: You'll hear a lot about workfoprce development from Plant Engineering in 2008. We've written about the topic extensively in the past, and it will be a major topic at this year's Manufacturing Summit March 31 and April 1 in Chicago. One emphasis is recruiting and training the next generation of plant workers. In Chicago, Austin Polytechnical Academy is giving high school students a sound basic education with a strong emphasis on developing manufacturing workers who can think and contribute as part of a high-tech manufacturing environment. It is this kind of grass-roots approach to manufacturing issues that is essential to develop more manufacturing workers for the future.

3. Workforce development, Part 2: A meeting in Washington last month established the Engineer Week Diversity Council. One stated goal of the group is to increase the number of woman and minorities in engineering. "Our country is at a critical, strategic inflection point where forces of innovation, history and demongraphics offer us an opportunity to ensure that we remain the innovation engine of the world," said Ronald Glover, IBM's vice president for global workforce diversity. Learn more about Engineers Week 2008 at www.eweek.org.

4. On to turkeys... And this week's bit of idiocy from that intellectual pornographer, Lou Dobbs. Bill Gates testified before Congressional committee about the need to bring more bright minds into the U.S. from around the world. First, the quote from Gates: "We have to welcome the great minds in this world, not shut them out of our country. Unfortunately, our immigration policies are driving away the world's best and brightest precisely when we need them the most."
And here's Lou's diatribe: "Most of those H-1B visas are being used by Indian companies seeking to outsource jobs at a very, very reduced wage. In fact, most of the H-1B computer professionals in this country are brought in at the lowest skill levels... These are entry level jobs, not the highly skilled jobs seeking those H-1B visas. So Mr. Gates, I certainly hope that you and I can have a discussion on that. I'm sure that you would be delighted to do that, but I'm going to ask for something less than an infinite number of H-1B visas and when we compromise, as a matter of fact, I want to return to two years ago levels." 
He's arguing that jobs are being outsourced to India, and that is destroying America, and then that Indian countries are exporting jobs back to the U.S., and THAT is destroying America. Which is it, Lou? He is attempting to argue on his "populist" show that there is not a looming worker shortage in America. Lou hasn't been in a factory or a modern manufacturing plant. I have. He's nuts. And because he's on TV, there are small pockets of Americans who believe him. What Lou's wants is the good old U.S. economy that dictates to the world. He needs to come into the light of the new millennium. The solution isn't borders and boundaries and fences and restrictions. The solution is cooperation and camaraderie and collaboration. But hey, it's sells books, right Lou?

5. I watch a lot of football: My nephew is playing in the state football championships in Illinois this weekend. I spend a lot of my weekend watching the Bears -- although I might outsource that job to someone else. I've been a sideline reporter at football games for 35 years. I thought I'd seen everything. I've never seen this before. Click on the game-tying field goal by Phil Dawson if you missed this...

Posted by Bob Vavra on November 19, 2007 | Comments (4)