Silicon Valley Lacks Talented Engineers
Silicon Valley Lacks Talented Engineers
Date: Wednesday, August 06, 2003 11:41 AM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
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Mr John McHugh, vice-president and general manager at Hewlett Packard,
said that it is very difficult to find suitable manpower in Silicon
Valley because there just aren't enough talented engineers. To solve
that problem, McHugh will probably take full advantage of the newly
passed Singapore and Chile Free Trade Act (CAFTA). HP will probably use
the new W or H-1B(1) visas to fly people between Silicon Valley and
Singapore until operations can be removed from the United States.
McHugh will fly engineers in from Singapore so that they can get the
necessary training to take over operations. At the same time HP will
station between two and six engineers from the US in Singapore over the
next few years to help set up the center. After that HP will be able to
move major chunks of its operations to Singapore, freeing its American
workers so that they can find more interesting careers.
There is only one problem with this scenario. If Silicon Valley has a
shortage of talented engineers, who is going to train the S'poreans?
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=10826
HP says there's no engineering talent in Silicon Valley
So it ships out to Singapore
By Mike Magee: Saturday 02 August 2003, 11:01
AS THE HQ of Hewlett Packard is in California, and as there's a surplus
of bright engineers looking for work there, we can't imagine why a
senior executive at the firm has described the state as lacking talent
and there just isn't suitable manpower there.
But that, if a report in the Singapore government sponsored Straits
Times, appears to be exactly what John McHugh, a VP and general manager
of HP, appears to be saying.
HP will apparently invest $55 million over three years in a worldwide
hardware development centre in Singapore, to work on its ProCurve
networking technology.
The newspaper said that the centre meant the transfer of skill sets
from the US to Singapore, but McHugh is quoted as saying its Roseville,
California centre just couldn't get the staff.
He told the Straits Times that HP "looked at its ability" to recruit
skilled engineers in Sacramento and the Bay Area. He said after it had
gazed into this particular HP navel, it became apparent it needed to
"tap into a broader workforce".
Some engineers will be flown out to the US to learn their skills, said
the Straits Times, in a line which apparently has not a single note of
irony.
The centre will initially hire 50 people in Asia by the end of this
year, and another 150 jobs will be created for companies giving HP
support.
The deeply cynical might consider that perhaps it is yet another way
for HP to save costs. 5
L'INQS
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,202405,00.html
HP bases new research centre in Singapore - JULY 31, 2003
"HP bases new research centre in Singapore
Unable to find suitable talent in Silicon Valley, it expands networking
operations here to include R&D as well
By Bryan Lee
THE world's second-biggest computer maker, Hewlett-Packard, has turned
to Singapore to staff its research needs, after running out of suitable
engineers in California's famous Bay Area tech-hub.
Hewlett-Packard (HP), second in size only to Dell, is making Singapore
its sole hardware development centre worldwide for its key computer
networking product, HP ProCurve, in a $55 million investment over three
years.
The announcement yesterday was hailed as a 'significant' development by
Economic Development Board chairman Teo Ming Kian.
This was because it involved the 'transfer of new and critical research
and development skill-sets in the latest networking
technologies from the United States to Singapore', Mr Teo said at the
launch of the centre, in HP's manufacturing plant in Alexandra Road.
The new R&D centre will develop key computer networking hardware such
as high-speed switches and routers.
The technology information giant already has a facility to develop
these products in Roseville, just outside of Sacramento in California.
But last year HP found it difficult to find suitable manpower for the
centre, said the company's vice-president and general manager for
networking, Mr John McHugh.
That prompted the company to consider setting up a new R&D facility.
Mr McHugh, who flew to Singapore from the US for yesterday's
announcement, said: 'We looked at our ability to recruit skilled
engineers in Sacramento and the Bay Area and it became clear we needed
to tap into a broader workforce... to free up our US resources for the
areas of network security and wireless networking.'
Singapore was eventually picked over other locations worldwide as the
company made more than 80 per cent of its networking products here, he
explained.
'Locating research and development on the same site as manufacturing
improves technology transfer, enhances the design process and speeds up
the time to market.'
Mr McHugh added that the advanced R&D skills, productivity and
efficiency of Singapore's workforce helped make the decision to site
the lab here 'logical', 'compelling' and 'very easy'.
Forty of the 50 engineering employees will take up their jobs by the
end of the year.
Another 150 jobs are expected to be created by supporting companies
here, in areas such as tooling and industrial design.
HP will station between two and six engineers from the US in Singapore
over the next few years to help set up the centre.
Locally-based engineers will also be flown to the US for training.
The new venture underscores Singapore's aspirations to be a leader in
the global computer networking arena, coming hot on the heels of the
launch of a US$40 million (S$70.6 million) test laboratory here this
month by the world No 1 in the field, Cisco.
HP is one of the biggest electronics manufacturers in Singapore, having
invested about US$2 billion since it first set up operations here in
the 1970s to make calculators.
It employs more than 6,000 people here."
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Rob Sanchez is board member of NAEA - www.NAEA.US
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