Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Robert's avatar

I worked as an engineer at a very large auto company until I recently retired. I have a sister who is in engineering management in a similar area - different vehicles but very similar engineering needs. It had become obvious to me we were replacing outgoing engineers with imports from India and to a lesser extent China via the H1B visa. It so happened that she was also involved in hiring new engineers and her area was growing quite a lot.

We were going around and around on the H1B issue one time and she made the case that we couldn't find enough 'talent' so we had to go outside the US. I pressed her on this and she pointed out that it was difficult to compete with tech companies (and other auto firms) for engineers because, in large part, they paid more money. So I suggested we compete for those engineers by offering higher salaries! Seemed straightforward! Then the mask slipped. She said we didn't have the budget to pay higher salaries to new engineers. We needed more engineers, but the budget for them was shrinking annually. You don't have to be Elon or Vivek to see where this fairly simple math leads.

This system has to be gutted - and soon. It is the job of congress to fix this. But, they don't do anything without clearing it through you know who. And they will bend to his will without much resistance. I'm curious to see where Mr. Trump's loyalties really lie. This will be an interesting issue to follow.

Btw - What's particularly frustrating is that this is a company that hemorrhages billions of dollars a year in warranty costs. It is, by far, the industry leader there. But, it's easier to reduce dollars/engineer to save pennies than solve the ongoing quality issues and save billions.

Expand full comment
Brian Villanueva's avatar

The problem of merchants making poor political leaders goes all the way back to the American founding. Thomas Jefferson put it best: "Merchants have no country. the mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. in every country and in every age." Words that ring even more true in our era of globalized everything.

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-07-02-0167

He lays into lawyers too, which I get. Can't agree with his criticism of priests, but that's Jefferson for you. We didn't really have "investment bankers" or "venture capital" or "hedge funds" in 1813, but I'm sure he would have choice words for them too.

Expand full comment
17 more comments...

No posts