11 Articles Worth Reading
11 Articles Worth Reading
Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 2:04 AM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
by Rob Sanchez
June 21, 2005 No. 1279
In article #5 a San Diego writer declares a shortage of high-tech
workers because it ONLY takes 3 months to find a job. Article #6 by a
Washington writer declares that in the next 5 years there will be a
shortage of 5.3 million skilled workers and 1.7 million unskilled
workers. From coast to coast, the newspapers are getting on the
shortage shouting bandwagon. This is almost always a precursor to a
push by lobbyists to get guest-worker visa bill through Congress.
#9: I'm sure all of you remember the comments made by Bill Gates that
if he were king of the USA he would remove all limits to H-1B. Ravi
Venkatesan, chairman of Microsoft India, recently made a statement
that's not quite as outlandish but it's almost as annoying.
In #10 Sen. Hillary Clinton may have unintentionally explained why she
pushed so hard to invite the TATA, the Indian bodyshop, into Buffalo
despite the fact that New Yorkers will lose jobs to the H-1B and L-1
visa holders they employ. Sen. Clinton has never left doubt about her
support for H-1B visas and outsourcing to India and now she reveals
why. In Hillary's own words, she is a "Senator from Punjab as well as
from New York."
(Be sure to go to the newsletter archive to read the ones with
"Hillary" in the subject title to find out more about the senator's
split loyalties.)
Article 1:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/2005/Jun/07/181_1391193,0003.htm
Goldman Sachs to hire 300 in India
Goldman Sachs Group, the world's leading investment banking firm, is
ramping up headcount at its global services facility in Bangalore and
will recruit 300 people for its shared services and technology and
finance operations. With an upfront investment of $30 million in the
global centre in Bangalore, the company is set to expand its India
operations. The additional recruitment will take the headcount to 800
by this year-end from 500 currently.
Article 2:
http://www.axcessnews.com/commentary_060605.shtml
Warning Signs...
America's Jobs Are Disappearing
As the outsourcing of American jobs increases, people will begin to pay
attention, but right now, given recent news on job creation, is seems
counterintuitive. In the long run, it's not.
Article 3:
http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=9909
Grassi: U.S. Offshoring of Personal Data Grows
As holes still exist in protecting the personal information of both
customers and employees of corporations in the United States, many of
these same corporations, which include the largest financial
institutions and two of the three credit reporting agencies, have
offshored information technology units which include-back office
functions from customer service to software development and
engineering. Yet American customers or consumers are never informed
whether or not their personal information and credit history is being
offshored, as it is not required by U.S. corporations to do so. Coming
to light is that various U.S. government programs and states are
utilizing more and more offshore subcontractors in addition to those
corporate entities which indirectly do business with the U.S.
government. But unknown to the American consumer or taxpayer is the
threat of theft of an individuals identity and financial resources
which remain largely unprotected without the ability to enforce U.S.
law on foreign land.
Article 4:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/13073752p-13918971c.html
It's all about cost
Roseville firm's fortunes rise with China's help
Though the company has 2,500 workers, only eight of them occupy the
company's unpretentious leased offices near Douglas Boulevard in
Roseville. The rest are working at the firm's three manufacturing
plants in China. no serious LCD manufacturing in the United States -
either in small displays like IDW produces, or in sophisticated laptop
screens or larger flat-panel TVs. That's partly because of labor costs
and because many suppliers of LCD components have moved operations to
Asia.
Article 5:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/kinsman/20050619-9999-1b19kinsman.html
Shortage of skilled workers makes hiring difficult
Today, the average length of time to find a new job is estimated to be
about three months, and that's the lowest it's been in nearly four
years.
Article 6:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/10/AR2005061001960.html
Worker Shortage to Hit Region, Study Says
With labor economists predicting a national shortage of 5.3 million
skilled workers and a shortage of 1.7 million unskilled workers in the
next five years, the Washington region needs to begin preparing for the
inevitable crunch, according to a Prince George's Community College
study.
Article 7:
www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/11933602.htm?template=con
tentModules/printstory.jsp
China now exports fear about free trade
The rapid rise of China as a major force in the global economy is
provoking a reconsideration of whether free trade is still in America's
interest. Samuelson said open trade helped the U.S. economy grow since
World War II, but that competition from abroad drove down wages in
lower-skilled jobs. Over time, China and India could displace U.S.
high-tech jobs, too, and more American wages could be cut to help the
United States sustain competition. Meanwhile, the United States borrows
deeply from China to sustain its national debt; as of April, China's
central bank held $230 billion worth of U.S. Treasury bonds.
Article 8:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/20/AR2005062000320.html
Programming Jobs Losing Luster in U.S.
The research firm Gartner Inc. predicts that up to 15 percent of tech
workers will drop out of the profession by 2010, not including those
who retire or die. Most will leave because they can't get jobs or can
get more money or job satisfaction elsewhere. Within the same period,
worldwide demand for technology developers _ a job category ranging
from programmers people who maintain everything from mainframes to
employee laptops _ is forecast to shrink by 30 percent. "If you're only
interested in deep coding and you want to remain in your cubicle all
day, there are a shrinking number of jobs for you," said Diane Morello,
Gartner vice president of research.
Article 9:
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=f066d7b4afe3cd4bc31fe590831f794b
Offshore Outsourcing for Real - IT Workers on a Ship
A front page report in The Times of India talks about three American
entrepreneurs who plan to house an international crew of software
developers on a ship just off the California coast. This way, say
promoters of the company called Sea Code, U.S. jobs will stay close
home, foreign workers will be saved immigration hassles, and U.S. firms
will get competitive rates for projects. Sea Code will be registered in
the Bahamas, not subject to U.S. labor laws. The trio has already
identified a $10 million ship called the Carousel for their experiment.
Ravi Venkatesan, chairman, Microsoft India, has said: "There exists a
demographic challenge in the U.S. with an aging population whereas
India has dynamic and highly educated youth. It is in the natural
interest of both the economies to allow this integration of resources
and talent. In this day of globalization, dropping of artificial
barriers such as this is essential to allow free flow of trade and
talent to benefit both countries while fostering economic development
at the same time."
Article 10:
http://us.rediff.com/news/20
Lawmakers decry attacks against Sikhs
Clinton said "I am delighted to be the Senator from Punjab as well as
from New York."
Article 11:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/20/nuclear.security/index.html
Illegal immigrants accessed nuclear weapons facility
Sixteen illegal immigrants gained access last year to one of the most
sensitive weapons sites in the country, according to a report issued
Monday by the Department of Energy's inspector general. The workers
used "false documents" and "gained access to the ... site on multiple
occasions," the report said. The report det
1, +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.hindustantimes.com/2005/Jun/07/181_1391193,0003.htm
Goldman Sachs to hire 300 in India
Bangalore, June 7, 2005
Goldman Sachs Group, the world's leading investment banking firm, is
ramping up headcount at its global services facility in Bangalore and
will recruit 300 people for its shared services and technology and
finance operations.
With an upfront investment of $30 million in the global centre in
Bangalore, the company is set to expand its India operations. The
additional recruitment will take the headcount to 800 by this year-end
from 500 currently.
"Though we have created a huge capacity to accommodate about 1,500
people in this high-tech facility, our future hiring will depend on our
global requirements and the cyclical nature of the business we are in.
"Going forward, we plan to hire another 200-400 people next year to
have a total of 1,000-1,200 staff with domain expertise in finance,
management and technology," Goldman Sachs chief administrative officer
Edward C Forst told reporters on Tuesday.
Within a year of commencing operations, the centre has expanded its
portfolio of services to its parent company and its global clients that
range from research, knowledge management and finance to operations
such as treasury, equity and asset management.
"We have found Bangalore to be an ideal centre for locating this
service centre, mainly due to the presence of a huge talent pool with
superb qualifications and knowledge of English. Even the technology
infrastructure here is world class," said Forst.
"In view of our global reputation and scale of activities, we have been
able to attract the best of Indian talent with complementary
backgrounds such as accounting, commerce, science, engineering and
business management. Many of them are from reputed Indian firms and
high-end institutes like the IITs and IIMs," he added.
The service groups at the centre include diverse functions and
business, including applications for front office and support systems.
A technology command centre also operates along with the data centres
in New Jersey, London and Tokyo. The 24x7 command facility monitors the
company's networks and computer systems the world over.
On compensation and cost advantage of operating out of India, Forst
said the benefit to the company would be as much as it was in the IT
services sector, which works to be about 40-50 per cent.
According to Goldman Sachs India managing director and CEO David
Simons, the nature of tasks and responsibilities handled from the
Bangalore centre were no different from those at its other offices in
New York, London, Hong Kong or Singapore.
"The Indian staff is part of our global community of 21,000 people,
working for specific regional or head office teams," Simons said.
Goldman Sachs is partnering with Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd
with a 25 per cent stake. It has also invested another 25 per cent in
Kotak Securities Ltd.
2. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.axcessnews.com/commentary_060605.shtml
Warning Signs...
America's Jobs Are Disappearing
By Alan Caruba - Contributing Columnist
As the outsourcing of American jobs increases, people will begin to pay
attention, but right now, given recent news on job creation, is seems
counterintuitive. In the long run, it's not.
June 6, 2005 (AXcess News) South Orange NJ - The curse of Cassandra was
that she could predict the future, but that no one would believe her.
Ron and Anil Hira have written "Outsourcing America" ($22.00, Amacom)
about the way American jobs will be leaving thousands, possibly even
millions, unemployed while low-paid, but well educated workers in
India, China and elsewhere replace them. This is likely to be one of
those warnings that are going to go largely ignored until it is too
late.
Economists at the University of California who have looked at the
current job scene and calculated which of those jobs can be done
elsewhere for less suggests that nearly one in nine of all US jobs are
vulnerable to being outsourced. That's a staggering 14 million
white-collar jobs. The 2004 UC report predicts that, by 2015,
approximately 3.5 million white-collar jobs representing $151 billion
in wages will move overseas. By the end of this year, the report sees
830,000 jobs leaving.
Who is embracing this enticing way to save money? American companies
for whom the requirement to compete in the global marketplace virtually
demands they take advantage of this option. The jobs affected include
those in information technology, call-center operators, accounting,
architecture, medical and legal services, and high-level engineering
design. By 2008, an estimated 700,000 jobs in customer service and the
corporate back-office will move to India.
Even the federal government and some state governments have begin to
outsource public sector jobs, including welfare and food stamp service
jobs.
The Internet and the ability to move information by phone anywhere in
the world is the primary reason for this, but it must be said that
Asian nations have been concentrating for years on high standards of
education to catch up and compete with the West. They have long-term
strategic goals, while we in the West concentrate on the next quarterly
report. As a result, there is an endless supply of educated,
under-employed workers in India and China.
We think we are living in a global, free-trade world of endless
possibilities, but this ignores the fact that Asian governments such as
China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan have policies that are
designed to help certain industries for the precise purpose of
competing with the US. By contrast, the US government cannot seem to
stop generating an endless flow of new regulations that impede the
ability of every kind and size of business enterprise to compete. It is
estimated that the cost of complying with these regulations costs
Americans $800 billion a year.
One only has to look at the nation's huge trade deficits to conclude
that something is very wrong with the way we do business with the
world. This is not a call for tariffs or other obstacles, but it is a
call for the reduction of government mandates that make it difficult to
compete.
As out-sourcing increases, American college and university students are
beginning to take note. Enrollment, for example, in computer science
dropped twenty percent in 2003-2004. Why pursue a career in
technological fields, engineering, and other demanding professions when
people on the other side of the globe who can afford to earn less can
do these jobs? Wages in developing nations like India and China are ten
to twenty percent less than those US workers must earn.
Need it be said that, as more and more jobs are out-sourced, a great
pool of unemployed Americans will occur? Do not make the assumption
they will find other jobs. As the authors of "Outsourcing America"
point out, "The track record for the reemployment of displaced US
workers is abysmal."
Now add the vast horde of illegal aliens flooding the US to take jobs
in the construction industry and other enterprises. Consider the fate
of countless lawn care or janitorial services companies who cannot
compete with those who employ illegal aliens. Consider the $20 billion
Mexicans sent home last year, an amount larger than Mexico's revenues
from oil and tourism.
While jobs at the low end of the wage scale disappear for Americans, so
too are jobs held by the middle-class. The worse part of all this is
that the government is doing nothing to address either the out-sourcing
losses or immigration problems. Even now the White House keeps calling
for "guest worker" programs that, for migrant labor makes sense, but
not for the other jobs Americans would gladly fill. There are already
programs that allow foreign white-collar workers to come here and
replace higher paid US workers.
There are some indicators that American companies have discovered that
out-sourced call centers are a turn-off for many American consumers,
but this is cold comfort for the countless Americans, including the 1.8
million college graduates who join the labor force each year.
The result is predictable. Unemployed US workers will pay no taxes, nor
will they be buying all those foreign-made products that fill the
shelves in American malls. They will not be contributing to retirement
savings programs or pension funds that would otherwise be used to
invest in new business ventures.
This is a calamity already for those who must compete for blue-collar
jobs and it is going to be the same for the middle class. The ripple
effect on the American economy will be widespread and awful.
3. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=9909
Grassi: U.S. Offshoring of Personal Data Grows
By Diane M. Grassi
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego, CA there
have been close to 60 reported security breaches of customer financial
information from United States corporations thus far in 2005, involving
13.5 million customers identities. The companies include
Choicepoint, Inc., Bank of America Corp., Wachovia Corp., Ameritrade
Holding Corp., DSW Shoe Warehouse, Time Warner Inc., LexisNexis and
most recently Citbank Financial Group. While most lost data has
involved data storage tapes lost in transit by courier services or UPS,
others involved computer security breaches. And as corporate America
looks for ways to shore up its security problems rather than face the
wrath of Congress, an even more unwieldy problem is brewing abroad.
As holes still exist in protecting the personal information of both
customers and employees of corporations in the United States, many of
these same corporations, which include the largest financial
institutions and two of the three credit reporting agencies, have
offshored information technology units which include-back office
functions from customer service to software development and
engineering.
Yet American customers or consumers are never informed whether or not
their personal information and credit history is being offshored, as it
is not required by U.S. corporations to do so. Coming to light is that
various U.S. government programs and states are utilizing more and more
offshore subcontractors in addition to those corporate entities which
indirectly do business with the U.S. government. But unknown to the
American consumer or taxpayer is the threat of theft of an
individuals identity and financial resources which remain largely
unprotected without the ability to enforce U.S. law on foreign land.
Accounting firms are offshoring IRS tax preparation. The U.S Department
of Agriculture defers to the states to run food stamp programs, with as
many as 43 states offshoring call-centers to India even though federal
law dictates that only U.S. government workers should handle the job.
The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) which
protects the health information of a patient and prevents healthcare
companies from selling such information to third parties such as
telemarketing firms, does not limit nor prohibit the transfer of
information to overseas locations for third party subcontracted
services. And many public and private hospitals are sending diagnostic
radiology work to India with no law requiring notification to patients
that a radiologist in India, unlicensed in the U.S., is reading x-rays
and diagnosing illnesses and injuries. Known as "ghosting," U.S.
certified radiologists oversee radiologists in India while x-rays are
electronically transmitted. Initiation of regulatory controls is only
now in the beginning stages to ensure doctors performing such work are
properly trained.
As overseas contractors and subcontractors are outside the jurisdiction
of U.S. consumer privacy laws that protect medical and financial
information in the U.S., corporations have little recourse in the
outsourced host country if a violation of security or theft occurs.
Indias IT Act of 2000 does not address the issue of privacy
protection and regulation of the use of data. It only covers
unauthorized access and data theft directly from computers and
networks. Indian law does not cover data interception and computer
forgery or fraud at all and no legal remedies in India yet exist for
such enforcement.
In the U.S., the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 which applies to
financial institutions as well as accounting firms engaged in the
practice of tax preparation requires that firms design, implement and
put safeguards in place in order to maintain protection of customer
information. In addition, such companies must provide their customers
with a privacy notice that details the companys
information-collection and information-sharing practices giving the
customer the right to "opt-out" and limiting the sharing of such
information. Yet to date the Federal Trade Commission has not levied
any punishment or fine on any U.S. accounting firm with regard to
overseas outsourcing practices and the lack of notification of such to
customers. A growing trend in the legal profession is the overseas
outsourcing of paralegal services including legal research. Some of the
countrys largest law firms are utilizing such services. According to
John Halvey of New York-based Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCoy, "I
cant think of a recent deal we did that didnt have an offshore
component." But issues of attorney-client privilege create limitations
on what may or may not be outsourced by a law firm, especially without
the consent of law firm clients.
While the U.S. federal government invests more resources into
tightening security in a post-9/11 world, multi-national corporations
put the U.S. infrastructure at greater risk through offshoring
maintenance and development. There are very few areas of information
technology which do not impact the operation of infrastructure in the
U.S., which in some ways have direct implications on homeland security.
Financial and accounting institutions have now been joined by software
programmers maintaining operations for U.S. based health care
providers, airlines, railroads, power companies and defense
contractors, all of which subcontract offshore.
Outsourcing computer networks offshore creates an immediate liability
as there no longer is direct company control of data due to dependency
on service providers abroad with neither the outsourcing vendor nor the
outsourcing client knowing the exact path the data takes. For example,
AT&Ts switched network carries economic, financial and military
communications, which accounts for a great deal of the foundation of
U.S. infrastructure, and relies on programming and maintenance from
engineers offshore. Pacific Gas & Electric of California, one of the
U.S. companies responsible for maintaining and upgrading the U.S.
electrical grid, outsources to a dozen offshore subcontractors, with
the largest one in Thailand.
Although there are bills pending in several states that would prohibit
overseas outsourcing, one would be apt to think that such would be ripe
for federal legislation, yet so far there has been little attention
given these issues in either the 108th Congress or the present 109th
Congress. Congressman Edward Markey (D-MA) recently appealed to the
Internal Revenue Service to hold the tax return preparer responsible
when a foreign person hired by a U.S. firm violates the protections
which restrict unauthorized disclosure or misuse of personal
information as contained in Sections 6713 and 7216 of the Internal
Revenue Code. And Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) is calling for
federal legislation which gives the "patient the right to know" that
x-rays or other private healthcare information are being outsourced to
countries outside of the U.S.
With offshoring by the U.S. showing no signs of slowing down in the
near future, and with no "safe harbor" requirements in existing law
offshore, it remains extremely difficult to prosecute security breaches
within the confines of the U.S. justice system. Approximately 85
percent of U.S. critical infrastructure is owned by private,
non-government businesses which have some component of their business
being outsourced, admittedly with focus on profits and losses more of a
priority than homeland security for these companies. In this respect
lawmakers are behind the curve in protecting the interests of
Americans. Yet it behooves and is incumbent upon the U.S. government,
the legal community and privately held entities to join together in
order to mandate protection for the best interests of the U.S and
preserve the identities and economic health of the American people.
Diane Grassi can be reached for comment at dgrassi@cox.net
4. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/13073752p-13918971c.html
It's all about cost
Roseville firm's fortunes rise with China's help
By Clint Swett -- Bee Staff Writer
June 16, 2005
The humble LCD, or liquid crystal display, is installed more than 3
billion times a year in everything from cheap digital watches to MP3
players to cell phones.
But there's nothing humble about the LCD's effect on the fortunes of
Roseville-based International DisplayWorks Inc.
In the past year, IDW has seen its stock price more than quadruple, its
profits and revenues climb sharply and its overseas work force expand
by more than 500 employees.
That's thanks, in part, to a booming demand for the products in the
niche chosen by IDW - display screens measuring 7 inches diagonally or
smaller.
Those displays are found on everything from portable music players to
wall-mounted thermostats - in what analysts estimate is a $19.6 billion
worldwide market in 2005.
"LCD is a very old technology," said Tom Lacey, a former Intel Corp.
executive who joined IDW in October as chairman and chief executive
officer. "But the reality is that it's a very low-cost technology and
the companies buying our products have to compete on cost."
So does IDW. Though the company has 2,500 workers, only eight of them
occupy the company's unpretentious leased offices near Douglas
Boulevard in Roseville.
The rest are working at the firm's three manufacturing plants in China.
That's where the company churns out more than 5 million LCD units a
month, ranging from a 60-cent display used in electronic toys to $25
modules for touch-screen thermostats.
Its latest acquisition, a plant in Beijing, allows them to make
technically sophisticated color LCDs used in the latest generation of
cell phones.
Among its blue-chip roster of customers are cellular phone giants
Kyocera, Qualcomm and Motorola, as well as instrument maker Honeywell
and MP3 pioneer Creative Labs.
If IDW has one guiding philosophy, it's that low costs are paramount.
"We just couldn't make money (manufacturing) here. We just can't be
competitive," Lacey said.
Buying at fire-sale prices, IDW acquired its modern manufacturing
facilities in China and operates two of them in Shenzhen, a foreign
economic trade zone in southern China, one of the lowest-cost
manufacturing centers in the world, said Barry Raeburn, an analyst with
Emerging Growth Equities Ltd.
Its executives travel to China at least once a month, flying coach. The
only time they upgrade is when their frequent-flyer miles bump them
into better seats.
Rather than stay in hotels, IDW execs have rented a $500-a-month house
with room for six to sleep. They even postponed buying a sign for the
exterior of their Roseville office until they can get one from a
Chinese sign company at one-third the price.
"We have a maniacal focus on costs," Lacey said.
Having its manufacturing operations in China is not surprising, said
Paul Semenza, vice president of iSuppli Corp., a market research firm
that tracks the LCD market.
Semanza said there is virtually no serious LCD manufacturing in the
United States - either in small displays like IDW produces, or in
sophisticated laptop screens or larger flat-panel TVs. That's partly
because of labor costs and because many suppliers of LCD components
have moved operations to Asia.
China, too, has been very aggressive in offering companies financial
incentives to set up operations there, he said.
So far, IDW's approach is paying off. The company earned $1.5 million
in the quarter ended April 30, compared with a loss of $449,000 a year
earlier.
Sales more than doubled to $22.7 million from $10.62 million the
previous year. And its stock has climbed from $2.66 a share in August
to trade as high as $10.65 before falling back to the $7.50 range in
recent weeks. It closed Wednesday at $8 on the Nasdaq.
Analyst Jay Srivasta of Roth Capital Partners in Newport Beach rates
the stock a strong buy and predicts it will reach $14.50 within a year.
Raeburn also rates it a strong buy, but with a target price of $12.50 a
share. The companies of both analysts have an investment banking
relationship with IDW stock but do not own shares.
The company recently filed documents with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, giving it the option to issue 12.5 million shares to
finance further acquisitions.
"It gives us financial flexibility so if there's an opportunity for a
strategic purchase, we can move quickly," said Steve Kircher, IDW's
founder and now a consultant for the company.
While a small company relative to its handful of Taiwanese competitors,
whose annual revenues are at least double those of IDW, the company may
have an advantage because it's much more focused on one market,
Srivasta said.
"It's an advantage for them to focus on mobile displays, Srivasta said.
"There's enough business there for them to make a good run."
Though it's a fast-growing technology company, IDW has its roots, oddly
enough, in the snowboarding industry dating to when Kircher, a Granite
Bay investor, bought a publicly traded company called Morrow Snowboards
in 1999.
He sold off Morrow's snowboard and clothing lines and used the shell
company and resulting $5 million in cash to purchase the assets of a
Singapore electronics manufacturing firm in 2000.
That company struggled for more than two years because of what Kircher
called "a lack of urgency to increase sales and reduce costs."
After a management shake-up in 2003, IDW shifted its focus away from
low-margin LCDs used in toys and other devices, and toward higher
volume consumer electronics, such as MP3 players and cell phones,
Kircher said.
The addition of Lacey, who was vice president of Intel's Communications
Group in Folsom before joining IDW, was a savvy move, Raeburn said.
"He's an experienced global executive who understands manufacturing and
customer satisfaction," he said.
Analysts said IDW's biggest challenges will be to keep costs down and
quality up while tapping into high volume customers such as cellular
phone makers, which are expected to produce more than 700 million
handsets this year. And an economic downturn could also erode demand
for cellular phones, music players and other consumer items, analysts
said.
Still, IDW executives are optimistic.
"We have a small share of a fast-growing market," Kircher said. "We can
compete effectively on a cost basis with anyone in the world."
5. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/kinsman/20050619-9999-1b19kinsman.html
Shortage of skilled workers makes hiring difficult
UNION-TRIBUNE
June 19, 2005
Siemens Communications dumped about 100 workers into the job market
this year when it closed its design center for wireless phones in
Rancho Bernardo.
Duncan Mathison, who helped with outplacement for Drake Beam Morin,
remembers being concerned about having to find jobs for so many people
at the same time.
"We acted aggressively," Mathison says. "But we still were surprised at
how successful we were. We found jobs for 95 percent of the people
within six weeks."
Today, the average length of time to find a new job is estimated to be
about three months, and that's the lowest it's been in nearly four
years.
For the most part, the Siemens workers had an advantage in that they
were skilled designers, product managers and marketers looking for work
in a market in which the jobless rate hovers at about 4 percent.
"The job market for skilled workers is good here," Mathison says.
"There's a lot of demand for finance workers, particularly accountants
and controllers. And there is strong demand for engineers. But it
really seems to be a good market for skilled workers across the board."
A survey of 150 companies nationwide by the Chicago's Challenger, Gray
& Christmas underscores that.
The survey shows that 44 percent of employers didn't meet their hiring
expectations during the first half of the year because they couldn't
find workers with the skills they need.
Fifty-six percent of companies plan to add jobs during the second half
of the year, provided they can find qualified workers, the Challenger
survey reports.
"The economy has added two million jobs during the past year, and
that's not enough," says John Challenger, the firm's chief executive.
"We have a shortage of knowledge workers, and I don't see that shortage
going away soon."
The U.S. Department of Labor has forecast that there will be a shortage
of 6 million workers by 2010. But economists and sociologists debate
whether there actually will be the widespread retirements by baby
boomers that the labor department has projected will fuel that gap.
Challenger isn't sure that baby boomers will be that eager to retire.
He sees many continuing to work past typical retirement age, and Iowa
Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said
recently that he'd like to see the retirement age for full Social
Security benefits raised to 69.
"But that doesn't address the fact that as technology changes, our
workers need to be updating their skills continually," Challenger says.
"We have to quit looking at our education as stopping at age 18, 22 or
in our mid-20s. We have to build that training into our weekly
schedules at work. Training should no longer be looked upon as
something you do outside of work by just a small portion of the work
force. We all should be getting that training at work."
One way to jump-start employer-provided training would be to offer tax
breaks for companies that invest in their workers. Many employers are
skittish about providing too much training for employees out of the
fear that those employees will leave for other jobs.
But if tax incentives could be established, the company would get an
immediate return and workers would get the training that would assure
them of having updated skills and expanded career opportunities.
"Everyone seems to be waiting for the other company to make the first
move," Challenger says. "It seems to make sense that rather than have
companies shelter their earnings by not investing in training, that we
give them a chance to spend that money so it will benefit everyone."
6. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/10/AR2005061001960.html
Worker Shortage to Hit Region, Study Says
By Mark Chediak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 11, 2005; D01
With labor economists predicting a national shortage of 5.3 million
skilled workers and a shortage of 1.7 million unskilled workers in the
next five years, the Washington region needs to begin preparing for the
inevitable crunch, according to a Prince George's Community College
study.
The gap, which is already being felt in the Maryland construction
industry, will grow worse without changes in policy and training, the
report said. The state's construction industry estimates it could hire
about 7,500 workers today but cannot fill those jobs because applicants
are ill prepared or don't have the transportation to get to work.
"We were all alarmed at the magnitude of the workforce shortage," said
Daniel P. Mosser, vice president for workforce development and
continuing education at Prince George's Community College and co-author
of the report.
The situation is complicated by an increase in enrollment in four-year
colleges, drawing from the pool of literate young people who might
otherwise have been recruited for skilled jobs in construction or
nursing, another area of shortage, the report said.
And it is compounded by a decline in vocational training programs
preparing skilled workers, and an aging baby boomer population headed
toward retirement and opening up jobs.
In Prince George's County, the fastest-growing jobs by the end of the
decade will be in the service industry, retail trade and construction,
according to the report. County officials who attended the conference
at a Greenbelt hotel where the report was presented yesterday pointed
out that Prince George's is poised for a construction boom, with
several impending building projects, including the National Harbor
development on the Potomac River.
County officials said they are committed to training and retaining
skilled trade workers. Ronald A. Williams, president of Prince George's
Community College, said the college is responding by starting to offer
training programs for jobs in high demand. Williams said he was
expanding the nursing program and planning to offer a maintenance
engineering program.
"We are gearing up for these specialty needs," Williams said.
Others at the conference said educators should shift their perceptions
of trade work as less glamorous or valuable.
"A lot of people are not college material," said Roger Herman, chief
executive of the Herman Group, a consulting firm. "But we can still be
training them."
County officials also expressed concern that six of every 10 residents
work outside the county. "It is a matter of jobs," said Stephen Fuller,
chairman of the George Mason School of Public Policy. "More jobs [in
the county] would resolve most of these problems."
Even as it has jobs going unfilled, the county has job-seekers who
can't find work and a large number of people living in poverty. The
2003 unemployment rate of 4.7 percent is nearly double the rate in
neighboring Montgomery County. Also, the number of people in poverty in
the county rose to 60,196 in 2000 from 41,282 in 1990, while the labor
force participation rate declined to 71 percent from 78 percent.
"We have to draw people into the labor pool who have been traditionally
excluded," Mosser said.
7. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/11933602.htm?template=con
tentModules/printstory.jsp
China now exports fear about free trade
ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE BENEFITS FOR U.S. FACE GROWING QUESTIONS
By Kevin G. Hall
Knight Ridder
WASHINGTON - The rapid rise of China as a major force in the global
economy is provoking a reconsideration of whether free trade is still
in America's interest.
For 60 years, the United States has promoted free trade as a powerful
way to generate prosperity at home and abroad. Trade tripled over the
past 40 years as a proportion of the U.S. economy, thanks in part to
eight successive global negotiations that opened markets by lowering
trade barriers. Now, efforts to expand free trade rules are stalling
from Congress to Europe and in an ongoing round of global negotiations.
U.S. policy assumes that free trade benefits all who engage in it. The
assumption dates back to 1817, when classical economist David Ricardo
defined his doctrine of comparative advantage -- that when nations
specialize in what they do best and most efficiently, each will win by
trading with the others.
Today, that concept is being questioned as never before. China's rapid
rise is feeding a common fear: that developing nations, led by China
and India, may out-compete the world for high-tech jobs and keep the
low-skill, labor-intensive manufacturing jobs they have previously won.
China already is the world's biggest exporter of electronics.
China has more than 1.3 billion people and a workforce of 700 million.
Last year's total U.S. workforce was 147 million. Thanks to current
technological advantages, U.S. workers are far more productive. But
China is catching up fast.
Since 1978, China's economy has grown by 9.4 percent annually. Its
gross domestic product -- the broadest measure of goods and services --
has soared from $147 billion in 1978 to $1.6 trillion last year. The
United States' GDP last year totaled $11.75 trillion -- still far
ahead.
Want a snapshot of China's rapid growth? Right now, subway systems are
being built in 84 Chinese cities.
For a decade now, debate has swirled over whether China -- a
``socialist market economy,'' according to its constitution -- is a
strategic trading partner or a budding rival.
Charlene Barshefsky, who was U.S. trade representative from 1996 to
2001, believes it's both.
``There is no historic precedent to the rise of a country this vast and
this rapid, changing trade and investment flows around the world, with
China the hub of Asian manufacture,'' she said in an interview.
Author Ted Fishman recently documented the challenge in his book
``China Inc.'' He believes China soon will have two distinct economic
platforms that will rival the United States. One is low-wage
manufacturing. The second will be a high-tech industry that matches the
West's in sophistication, and that will drive down wages in other
nations as they try to compete.
``It's everything from Christmas ornaments to aerospace. Other
economies don't come at us this way,'' Fishman said in an interview.
``We have to figure out how everyone can prosper along with China.''
Late last year, Paul Samuelson, a Nobel-Prize-winning economist, author
of the long-standard college-economics textbook and an ardent supporter
of free trade, suggested that China's growing economic might calls into
question whether free trade is a win-win game for America.
A lot to lose
Samuelson said open trade helped the U.S. economy grow since World War
II, but that competition from abroad drove down wages in lower-skilled
jobs. Over time, China and India could displace U.S. high-tech jobs,
too, and more American wages could be cut to help the United States
sustain competition. Even though U.S. consumers get less expensive
Chinese-made goods, many Americans could be net losers from such trade,
he wrote.
Last year, the U.S. trade deficit with China was $162 billion.
China is the world's largest importer of steel, iron ore, copper, tin,
other crude commodities and many semi-finished goods. It uses those to
build an economy fueled by high-value manufactured exports, building
surplus capital in the process.
Meanwhile, the United States borrows deeply from China to sustain its
national debt; as of April, China's central bank held $230 billion
worth of U.S. Treasury bonds.
Some experts think critics exaggerate the China threat.
``I think there is a tendency to overreach and think that they are
going to move up the food chain very rapidly,'' said Nicholas Lardy, a
China expert at the Institute for International Economics, a
pro-free-trade research center in Washington.
In the book ``The United States and World Economy,'' Lardy cautioned
that China will continue to be hampered by its large population and
lagging technology.
Experts may differ on China's threat potential, but no one questions
that fear of China is influencing politics here and abroad.
In an effort to reduce China's U.S.-trade surplus, 67 U.S. senators
endorse a bipartisan measure by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen.
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to slap a 27.5 percent tax on all Chinese
exports to the United States unless China revalues its currency.
`One-sided'
Schumer said in an interview that China's failure to revalue the yuan
and to protect U.S. copyrights and trademarks is souring policy-makers.
``There's always been dislocation and pain caused by free trade, but
it's never prevented free trade from being the dominant policy because
people felt overall that the benefits outweighed the liabilities.
Nothing will fray the (pro free-trade) coalition more than the view
that it's one-sided,'' Schumer said.
Frustration with China is also hurting President Bush's proposed
Central America Free Trade Agreement.
``Many members of Congress from both parties have told me that they
simply can't afford to cast another free trade vote until they do
something that shows that they `get it' -- that they get the American
anxiety about globalization,'' said Nancy Roman, the vice president in
Washington for the Council on Foreign Relations. ``A lot of it does tie
to China.''
8. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/20/AR2005062000320.html
Programming Jobs Losing Luster in U.S.
By RACHEL KONRAD
June 20, 2005
STANFORD, Calif. -- As an eager freshman in the fall of 2001, Andrew
Mo's career trajectory seemed preordained: He'd learn C++ and Java
languages while earning a computer science degree at Stanford
University, then land a Silicon Valley technology job. The 22-year-old
Shanghai native graduated this month with a major in computer science
and a minor in economics. But he no longer plans to write code for a
living, or even work at a tech company.
Mo begins work in the fall as a management consultant with The Boston
Consulting Group, helping to lead projects at multinational companies.
Consulting, he says, will insulate him from the offshore outsourcing
that's sending thousands of once-desirable computer programming jobs
overseas.
More important, Mo believes his consulting gig is more lucrative,
rewarding and imaginative than a traditional tech job. He characterized
his summer programming internships as "too focused or localized, even
meaningless."
"A consulting job injects you into companies at a higher level," he
said. "You don't feel like you're doing basic stuff."
Mo's decision to reboot his nascent career reflects a subtle but
potentially significant industry shift. As tens of thousands of
engineering jobs migrate to developing countries, many new entrants
into the U.S. work force see info tech jobs as monotonous, uncreative
and easily farmed out _ the equivalent of 1980s manufacturing jobs.
The research firm Gartner Inc. predicts that up to 15 percent of tech
workers will drop out of the profession by 2010, not including those
who retire or die. Most will leave because they can't get jobs or can
get more money or job satisfaction elsewhere. Within the same period,
worldwide demand for technology developers _ a job category ranging
from programmers people who maintain everything from mainframes to
employee laptops _ is forecast to shrink by 30 percent.
Gartner researchers say most people affiliated with corporate
information technology departments will assume "business-facing" roles,
focused not so much on gadgets and algorithms but corporate strategy,
personnel and financial analysis.
"If you're only interested in deep coding and you want to remain in
your cubicle all day, there are a shrinking number of jobs for you,"
said Diane Morello, Gartner vice president of research. "Employers are
starting to want versatilists _ people who have deep experience with
enterprise-wide applications and can parlay it into some larger
cross-company projects out there."
Career experts say the decline of traditional tech jobs for U.S.
workers isn't likely to reverse anytime soon.
The U.S. software industry lost 16 percent of its jobs from March 2001
to March 2004, the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute found.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that information technology
industries laid off more than 7,000 American workers in the first
quarter of 2005.
"Obviously the past four or five years have been really rough for tech
job seekers, and that's not going to change _ there are absolutely no
signs that there's a huge boom about to happen where techies will get
big salary hikes or there will be lots of new positions opening for
them," said Allan Hoffman, the tech job expert at career site
Monster.com.
Not everyone from the class of 2005 thinks programming is passe, and
companies are always eager to hire Americans who can write great code _
the type of work that, in recent years, produced innovations including
file-sharing software at Napster and search engine tech at Google.
But even the most dedicated techies are entering the profession with
less zeal than their predecessors.
The erosion of "deep code" and other technology jobs in the next decade
is creating a high-stakes game of musical chairs for geeks, Silicon
Valley recruiters say.
Dimming career prospects have been particularly ego-bruising for people
who entered the profession during the late '90s, when employers doled
out multiple job offers, generous starting salaries, and starting
bonuses including stock options and Porsches.
"The current situation is getting back to the '70s and '80s, where IT
workers were the basement cubicle geeks and they weren't very well
off," said Matthew Moran, author of the six-month-old book "Information
Technology Career Builder's Toolkit: A Complete Guide to Building Your
Information Technology Career in Any Economy."
"They were making an honest living but weren't anything more than
middle-class people just getting by," Moran said.
Thousands of U.S. companies have opened branches or hired contractors
in India, China and Russia, transforming a cost-saving trick into a
long-term business strategy. Offshoring may be a main factor in eroding
enthusiasm for engineering careers among American students, creating a
vast supply of low-wage labor in eastern Europe and Asia and driving
down worldwide wages.
The average computer programmer in India costs roughly $20 per hour in
wages and benefits, compared to $65 per hour for an American with a
comparable degree and experience, according to the consulting firm Cap
Gemini Ernst & Young.
According to the most recent data from the National Science Foundation,
1.2 million of the world's 2.8 million university degrees in science
and engineering in 2000 were earned by Asian students in Asian
universities, with only 400,000 granted in the United States.
U.S. graduates probably shouldn't think of computer programming or
chemical engineering as long-term careers but it's "not all gloom and
doom," said Albert C. Gray, executive director of the National Society
of Professional Engineers.
He says prospects are good for aeronautic, civil and biomedical
engineers, the people who design and build artificial organs, life
support devices and machines to nurture premature infants.
"In this country, we need to train our engineers to be at the leading
edge," Gray said. "That's the only place there's still going to be
engineering work here."
At Stanford, career experts are urging engineering and science majors
to get internships and jobs outside of their comfort zones _ in
marketing, finance, sales and even consulting.
They suggest students develop foreign language skills to land jobs as
cross-cultural project managers _ the person who coordinates software
development between work teams in Silicon Valley and the emerging tech
hub of Bangalore, India, for example.
Stanford listed 268 job postings in its computer science jobs database
in the spring quarter _ roughly double the number from last year.
But that doesn't necessarily indicate a plethora of traditional tech
jobs. About half of the new postings would prefer applicants who speak
at least two languages and many were for management-track positions,
said Beverley Principal, assistant director of employment services at
Stanford.
"When they're first hired at the entry level, just out of school,
people can't always become a manager or team leader," Principal said.
"But many employers see these people moving into management roles
within two years. They need to know how to step into these roles
quickly."
9. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=f066d7b4afe3cd4bc31fe590831f794b
Offshore Outsourcing for Real - IT Workers on a Ship
Siliconeer, Siddharth Srivastava, Jun 03, 2005
A front page report in The Times of India talks about three American
entrepreneurs who plan to house an international crew of software
developers on a ship just off the California coast. This way, say
promoters of the company called Sea Code, U.S. jobs will stay close
home, foreign workers will be saved immigration hassles, and U.S. firms
will get competitive rates for projects. Sea Code will be registered in
the Bahamas, not subject to U.S. labor laws. The trio has already
identified a $10 million ship called the Carousel for their experiment.
The promoters, San Diego techies David Cook and Roger Green backed by
investor Barry Shillito, a former assistant secretary of defense, say
they will hire around 600 programmers from all over the world -
including the U.S. and India. "With hybrid-sourcing Sea Code brings
already-off shored jobs back to the U.S. and assures that 90 cents of
every dollar from our clients stays in the U.S. instead of flowing to
foreign locations," a company press release said. Cook, a former
sailor-turned-techie, said he expects the venture to sail smoothly,
adding: "Were not a slave ship." His partner Green says it will be
more "like the International Space Ram Station."
Well, it remains to be seen whether the trio pull it off, but their
attempt surely is a reflection (even if slightly bizarre) of the U.S.
industry feeling the pinch of federal government policies to keep a
check on the number of foreign skilled workers. Microsoft chairman Bill
Gates echoed similar sentiments when he directly slammed the U.S.
administrations strict limits on temporary visas for technology
workers (the bulk of whom are Indians), saying that if he had his way,
the system would be scrapped entirely.
"The whole idea of the H1-B visa thing is, dont let too many smart
people come into the country, the worlds richest executive has
said. "The thing basically doesnt make sense."
Gates was reacting to the current annual cap of 65,000 with an
additional 20,000 exempt visas (for foreign graduates out of U.S.
universities), taking the total to 85,000 consequent to the outsourcing
backlash as well as Americans losing jobs to skilled workers from Asia.
Prior to 2000, the H1-B program had a visa ceiling of 65,000 but was
increased to 115,000 in 2000 and subsequently to 195,000 for a period
of three years, during the tech boom. But, after the three-year period
ended, H1-B cap was brought back to the original 65,000 per year, due
to protests by American workers in an election year. Last year the
quota was exhausted on the very first day the new allocations opened,
the first such occurrence.
H1-B is the specialty-occupation visa status under which a large number
of Indian information technology firms send their employees to the
United States for on-site project-development work, popularly known as
body-shopping. The United States is the prime export destination for
the Indian software industry.
Echoing Gates words, Ravi Venkatesan, chairman, Microsoft India, has
said: "There exists a demographic challenge in the U.S. with an aging
population whereas India has dynamic and highly educated youth. It is
in the natural interest of both the economies to allow this integration
of resources and talent. In this day of globalization, dropping of
artificial barriers such as this is essential to allow free flow of
trade and talent to benefit both countries while fostering economic
development at the same time."
U.S. industry has been pushing for a removal of the cap which has been
opposed by labor unions. Complete America - a coalition of over 200
corporations, universities, research institutions and trade
associations - has been advocating for a raise in the annual cap. The
allowance of the extra 20,000 visas to foreign nationals graduating
from U.S. universities was as a result of their efforts.
As things stand, the Bush administration does not seem to be in any
mood to comply. The H1-B visa program has been criticized by unemployed
U.S. professionals for "taking away" their jobs. The administration is
of the view that unemployment among U.S. computer engineers regularly
exceeds the figures in other industries.
Indian information industry czars are predictably happy at Gates
clarion call which highlights the mismatch between the availability of
skills and demand for tech workers in the U.S., despite the U.S.
administration claims. The Indian IT industry is concerned that the
limit will affect Indian software firms, which have a large number of
clients in the U.S., though it would bring more offshore work to India
from the U.S.
The restriction will curtail the flexibility to reinforce onsite teams
at various stages in the software development lifecycle (system
requirement study, testing and implementation phases) if adequate and
proactive planning is not in place. Big companies like Wipro, Infosys,
HCL and Tata Consultancy Services have already built robust H1-B visa
banks, with a shelf life of 6 years, in anticipation of a shortage; it
is the smaller IT firms that will really have to struggle. However, it
is believed that if the cap remains for a longer while, it will
definitely impact the Indian IT industry as a whole.
In a statement, Indias software giant Infosys has said: "Bill Gates
is an icon of American industry. His voice creates a positive cluster
of opinion and is a clear signal to policy makers what U.S., Inc.
wants. Such voices will be more vocal now as you will see the rhetoric
fading out."
In any case, there are other areas, apart from the tech-sector which
may feel the pinch of the H1-B cap. Reports in India highlight the
acute shortage of nurses and teachers which can adversely affect U.S.
while at the same time open up opportunities for Indians. According to
Stephen S. Nuell, president of Nurses for International Exchange, the
demand for nurses has escalated so much that the U.S. Congress is set
to bring in legislation to make visas to nurses easily available.
Estimates put the demand for Indian nurses in the U.S. to the tune of
250,000. Estimates of shortage of teachers in U.S. range up to 700,000.
This is a huge human resource problem. So What is to be done? Could
floating hospitals be an answer? Or schools?
10. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/jun/09sikhs.htm
Lawmakers decry attacks against Sikhs,
Aziz Haniffa in Washington, D.C. | June 09, 2005
In what is the largest Sikh gatherings on Capitol Hill in recent times,
over 300 members of the community attended the Sikh American Heritage
Dinner organized by the Washington, DC-based Sikh Council on Religion
and Education.
The guest list of US lawmakers in attendance included Senators Richard
Lugar, Indiana Republican and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, and Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat; Congressmen
Tom Davis, Virginia Republican and Joe Crowley, New York Democrat and
former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian
Americans.
In an address punctuated several times by sustained applause, Clinton
said 'I am delighted to be the Senator from Punjab as well as from New
York. It is always a pleasure and an honor to represent so many of my
Sikh American constituents in New York.'
'I admire you for the way you all handled the challenges that the Sikh
community faced after 9/11. The way the Sikh community responded so
positively by educating people about the Sikhs and serving fellow
Americans is a great tribute to the value of the Sikh community and
that also helped us to get the message across.'
Congressman Jim McDermott, Washington Democrat and former co-chair of
the India Caucus, lamented that the Sikhs had undergone tough times in
the aftermath of 9/11. 'Unfortunately,' he said, 'many Americans tend
to lump people together without understanding who they are and what
they are. In my area, a Sikh was beaten and we quickly brought together
a campaign called 'Hate Free Zone' which involved many people from
civic organizations, churches and law enforcement forces.'
Speakers including Congressmen Crowley, Frank Pallone and Rush Holt,
both New Jersey Democrats, lauded Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
India's first ever Sikh Prime Minister, and praised his ongoing efforts
to bring about peace with Pakistan.
Various awards were presented to members of the community; awardees
included Waris Ahluwalia, a Sikh actor who portrayed a Sikh, complete
with turban and beard, in Steve Zissou's Hollywood movie, 'The Life
Aquatic' and several members of the community who are have served in
the US Armed Forces in Iraq. Specialist Uday Singh, 21, of the 34th
Armored Regiment, who was killed December 1, 2003 in Habbaniyah, Iraq
and whose remains were buried with honors at Arlington National
Cemetery, was also remembered.
Dr Rajwant Singh, founder and president of SCORE, said the plan was to
make the event an annual affair, and added that the community was on a
learning curve 'as to how we could make our voice heard and articulate
our concerns and express them to the highest levels of the American
government.'
11. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/20/nuclear.security/index.html
Illegal immigrants accessed nuclear weapons facility
June 21, 2005
But Department of Energy report says nothing was compromised
From Michael McManus
Sixteen illegal immigrants gained access last year to one of the most
sensitive weapons sites in the country, according to a report issued
Monday by the Department of Energy's inspector general.
The inspector general's investigation found the illegal immigrants were
construction workers on jobs at the Y-12 National Security Complex near
Knoxville, Tennessee.
The workers used "false documents" and "gained access to the ... site
on multiple occasions," the report said.
The report details how the workers, apparently using fake green cards,
were able to obtain access badges.
"This situation represented a potentially serious access control and
security problem," the report said.
According to the report, the inquiry brought field agents to the plant
who found "official use only" documents "lying unprotected in a
construction trailer, which was accessed by the foreign construction
workers."
The National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees nuclear
weapons facilities for the Energy Department, said in the report no
evidence was found that the workers had access to any of those
documents.
The inspector general, Gregory Friedman, also found that although
security was compromised, access controls at the plant have since been
tightened.
And he found no evidence that classified or sensitive information was
compromised.
A January 2004 report by the inspector general found that an exercise
to test preparedness against a terrorist attack at the Y-12 complex was
compromised when guards got a peek at the plans.
The report further said there was "compelling" evidence that security
tests have been manipulated since the mid-1980s.
The Y-12 National Security Complex -- approximately 600 buildings over
811 acres -- was established along with the nearby Oak Ridge National
Laboratory during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project to
build the world's first nuclear weapon.
Both are situated on the 33,750-acre Oak Ridge Reservation that is home
to a number of Department of Energy science and technology programs.
About 13,000 contractor employees work at the Oak Ridge facilities.
Several sensitive activities take place at the Y-12 plant, including
the warehousing of enriched uranium and the dismantlement and storage
of weapons. The site was being tested to see if it could defend against
potential security incidents.
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