It seems, perhaps for the first time ever, our government is realizing we compete with people all over the world for our jobs. Unfortunately, so many of us don’t understand this.
Back in the ’80’s, I did some work for MIT. I was amazed at the numbers of Asian students. I wondered if I was in Taiwan, Korea or somewhere in the Far East; there were so many of them.
I’ve done work in Silicon Valley. What truly amazed me the first time I went out there is the number of high-level, high-tech jobs held by Asians. I have nothing against them, but I wondered where are all the “round eyes,” as they call us?
One day, a Korean engineering manager told me his amazing story. He emigrated from Korea as a child. He learned English as quickly as he could and went to our public schools. His parents also homeschooled him, teaching him what we weren’t teaching him in school.
He got himself into MIT on a scholarship. When he graduated, he got a job “in the Valley,” and his employer paid for him to get his master’s nearby at Stanford University.
All this time, he was competing with those of us who were born here, spoke the language and were familiar and comfortable with our customs. Wouldn’t you think we would have had a home court advantage? We probably did, but he blew right by us, and he didn’t even think he had done anything extraordinary. And he’s not alone; there are many with stories like that.
The CEO of one of my clients out there was from India. He had a name I had to keep relearning to pronounce. He patiently helped me and wasn’t even bothered that I had difficulty. I guess everybody else did, too. He was brilliant and had a similar story.
There are a lot of people of all nationalities working in the Valley, but it seems an awful lot of the top engineers, managers and key players are from other countries. Why can’t more of us locals compete with them for these jobs?
One day I was speaking with a local high-school teacher here in New Hampshire. “Ron, you wouldn’t believe how smart kids are today. Ask them anything, and they’ll come back with an answer.” I was stunned. “Mike, knowing how to use Google doesn’t mean you’re smart. They’ve made it so easy, little kids can do it. It won’t even help you get a good job. Now, if those kids learned how to write the algorithms that make Google work, they could get great jobs.” He had no clue, and he’s teaching our kids.
People often buy homes in certain places because of the reputation of their schools. They want the “best” educations for their children. But people in Bedford don’t lose their jobs to people in Manchester, Nashua or any surrounding towns or cities. We should be comparing our schools to those in Japan, Korea, China, Germany, etc. What do our kids know in comparison to their kids when they graduate?
No doubt, these tariffs are painful.
Some countries are already negotiating and reducing their tariffs against us if we’ll reduce ours against them. If it works, it gives our companies and our workers a more level playing field.
Unfortunately, tariffs can’t fix this problem. These high-tech superstars aren’t getting their jobs through affirmative action, DEI or any other social programs. They aren’t low paid. In fact, if you look out in the parking lots, they drive the cars everybody wants but can’t afford. They got their jobs because they made themselves the very best at what they do, and even with these great jobs, they’re still trying to learn and get even better.
From what I can see, the big difference is culture. Their cultures value education and make it a top priority for their kids even taking the time to teach the kids themselves. Too many of us are concerned about things that will never help our kids get good-paying jobs.
Our education system used to be one of the best in the world, but it’s been deteriorating for decades. Regardless of whether the tariffs work or not, we have to fix this if we want our kids to ever have good-paying jobs again.
Ronald J. Bourque, a consultant and speaker from Salem, has had engagements throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He can be reached at 603-898-1871 or RonBourque3@gmail.com.
