I told all four of my kids, "Do whatever you want to make a living... just simply be the best."
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave
My health insurance coverage is presently outstanding... $156 out-of-pocket for the hip replacement.
...Jim Thompson
-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |
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| 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave
Well, yeah, once you reach Medicare you are home. But the health care "system" for anyone below that age is the pits. When working for the government you get cradle-to-grave pampering, courtesy of the taxpayer (us!). When working for a large employer here in California you are ok, well, mostly. Working for a smaller one or self-employed? Then you pay through the nose if you don't have any old health record blemishes. If you do you become a pariah, IOW non-insurable. To top it off one big HMO has just sent notices to doctors enticing them to rat out patients with enough potential to rescind their coverage. It hasn't ever gotten that low before, now you have to be careful what you tell the doc or maybe self-medicate some stuff. Great. This needs to be fixed, and soon, and I sure hope all the candidates understand that this is a major concern for the average American.
I remember it well. IIRC, I was up to around $850/month with a $5K deductible prior to Medicare.
Now it costs me $289.59/month for essentially zero deductible... the $156 cost was for lab tests that were repeated in less than a year... one of the drawbacks to Medicare, strange rules.
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave
I still disagree with this, however, I did say "all but". It is not a myth.
Its a % basis. One off cases are not really relevant. It is a simple fact that the number of jobs actually available for analogue designers is, essentially, non existent, despite your note here of how long it took to find an analogue guy. I truly have a lot experience on this. Shit dude, I was laid off from TI in 2001. It is the actual facts that matter. Actually count the number of job advertisements for software, digital design and analogue design. Then try and estimate how many people actually apply for each job. In fact, try applying for them. I know as a matter of fact that typically there will be 20 applicants. Out of say, 100,000 EE jobs in the UK, I would estimate that that they are may 100 tops open for analogue positions, and ones close to where one presently lives, maybe 5 max.
I will extend this post to EE' in general. There is no shortage of EEs...Its another myth perpetrated by self interest groups, to wit, employers and universities. A shortage, for example, is when there is a line 100 long outside a shop to buy one of the 5 loves of bread. What the real complaint is, is that there are no one of Einstein's standard willing to work for 3 bucks an hour. Any one who applies for a job is always, as a matter of fact, competing with 10-50 other Resumes, therefore, there can not possible be a shortage.
I have a copy of the latest 2007 ETB (UK Enginerring and Technology Board) report. It notes several points.
Since 5 years ago, university enrolments for EEs in the UK fell from 5000 to
2800. It notes that only 1/3 of graduating EEs go into EE fields. It notes that one of the highest graduate unempoyment disiplines is EEs at > 8%, say compared to law at < 4%. There is a comment, that "the fact that there is a cliamed shortgage," is a mystery.
Ochams razor gives the simplest reason for the "mystery" of only 1/3 of EEs go into EE. There are no jobs. Its that simple. If there were, people would do them. Its a simple fact of market supply and demand.
--
Kevin Aylward
ka@kevinaylward.co.uk
www.kevinaylward.co.uk
Maybe, and certainly in Western Europe. But not nearly as fast as the number of people with analog design skills. Else I would not get requests for help from over there.
Organizations like VDE constantly lament a talent pool shortage. Now like you I believe that to be mostly baloney but in the world of discrete analog they have a point. In the other areas they could very simply fix it by not considering everyone above 45 to be obsolete. Those are the guys with the real know-how. But there will come a point where they retire. And then?
That was just one example. I can't count how often I got headhunter calls where they were literally pleading with me to consider giving up self-employment because this or that client of theirs was completely up the creek by now. Mostly because they realized that systems design is highly analog no matter how integrated it may be. That reality usually hits hardest when the guys come back from their first EMC test. Long, sad faces, analyzer plots that look like an overgrown redwood forest.
I can't comment on the UK situation because I don't know it. But laying off doesn't mean the demand ain't there. Case in point: My first employer decided to shut down the whole subsidiary where I was working, laying off all engineers. So I started setting up my own office, lining up clients etc. About six hours and thirty minutes after we were all gone they had their first "Oh dang!" experience. My phone rang, at 6:30 in the morning. Tried to hire me back. Too late, sorry. And so I had my next client ...
BTW, it was similar with my father. Huge company, decided to lower the average age. Reality hit them rather quickly.
Yes, I've heard that from other European countries as well. They try to hire engineers on the cheap. Won't work, you get wjhat you pay for.
Why don't they venture out into other countries? The one huge benefit of your EC is that you can (AFAIK) easily move to another EC member country and they cannot deny you the right to work there.
If you're like to move to southern Oregon, U.S., I suspect we'd be happy to have you and pay you what I imagine you'll find to be a perfectly reasonable salary.
Be sure to bring your guitar and any plush teletubbies you might have.
:-)
Seriously, in some parts of the U.S. it is difficult to find anyone with the specific talents you're after -- I'm not surprised that Joerg's client had such difficulties.
Which division of TI laid you off? Where were they located?
What do you think of the IEEE with respect to their role in both influencing educators to create curriculums that are relevant to industry's needs as well as simply being aware of industry's technical needs in the first place?
And I might add that it's a pristine area for someone who loves the outdoors, hiking, working a large property, clean air etc. Probably not the right kind of living for city folk (the guys who trust air only when they can see it ...).
And that was in Los Angeles. Another in the Bay Area. It's even tougher for companies in the boonies. I'll never understand why people shun nature and want to live in a big noisy city.
I think they should quit wasting resources on that dreaded ABET. It's not relevant to industry. What is relevant are down-to-earth practical skills. Luckily they abandoned their licensing push. I found it quite bizarre that an organization advocated increased regulatory hurdles for their dues paying constintuency instead of less like everyone else. Also, they should lean a bit more towards industry instead of academia.
Did you guys get the switcher to work as expected?
Well, yes. I myself have had several offers in the EU. However... I simply don't want to go there. I live here in the England. I have a life here. Personally, I am fed up moving. 10 years in the US, here in the UK otherwise. getting old. want to stay put. Its hard keeping a band going if one keeps on moving.
--
Kevin Aylward
kaExtract@kevinaylward.co.uk
www.kevinaylward.co.uk
I'm told that the "real" (4 layer PCB) layout was completed late last week, although I haven't seen a final layout go around for engineering review yet. They were doing some last minute swaps due to parts availability, apparently.
Yep, Bands are always a problem. My father, who will be 90 in October, doesn't want to move from WV out here to AZ (where it's nice and warm) because he'd have to leave his hillbilly band ;-)
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave
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