US professional issues

[Andy Dugas <adugas -at- NAVIS -dot- COM>]

This topic has been most interesting, and I would like to add to it.

Something almost identical to the importing-workers scenario happened
recently in healthcare, and may be informative. But first a semi-political
statement.

The "globalization" of the marketplace has so far been focussed on
lubricating the flow of capital and products among nations. Which can be a
good thing, of course.

But IMHO if we allow that, then it is only fair to also lubricate the flow
of labor (service providers and workers) to an equal extent. Otherwise, you
have a captive labor pool and lots of room for abuses. If workers in
Indonesia feel they are getting a bad deal from Nike's outsourced
manufacturers, why shouldn't they be able to pack up and seek greener
pasteurs? If corporations can move freely about in search of cheaper
resources, then workers should have similar freedom in seeking higher pay.

What if a Tech Writer in say, Kansas, was prevented by law from seeking a
better salary in Silicon Valley?

I say fair is fair. Allow labor the same freedom as capital.

Now the healthcare tale. In the 80's and early 90's, the US healthcare
industry suffered an extreme shortage of Occupational Therapists (OTs). As
a result, OTs were able to command a high salary. Companies sprang up to
supply contractors (sound familiar?), but where to find them?

As it turns out, Brazil (among other countries) had a surplus of OTs whom
were earning meager salaries. Deals were cut, sponsorships arranged and
visas made available. Foreign OTs arrived in droves, filling the gap and
making more money in a week than they may have made in three months back
home.

Of course, US universities also responded by creating OT programs and
churning out OTs by the thousands. To protect American jobs, the national
certification board acted to make certification by foreign OTs more
difficult. What used to be a walk in the park for any true professional
became a minefield of increasingly difficult requirements, such as high
TOEFL/TSE/TWE score requirements.

Demand has also shifted, because laws are changing as insurers (especially
Medicare) begin to cut back on covered services. Suddenly there's a
surplus. Now the national certification board is making the new tougher
requirements RETROACTIVE! What are all these imported OTs - who now have
American lives and families - supposed to do? Up and leave? They were here
when "we" needed them, so why treat them so shabbily?

This one is close to home. My wife is one such OT, whose process has been
nailed by these new tougher regulations for nearly four years. The hold up?
They made her repeat her 1000 hours of fieldwork (took longer to arrange
than to do). And for the last year, the only thing keeping her from taking
the board test is the TWE (Test of Written English) score. She's short half
a point, but keeps better notes than her American colleagues. Her fieldwork
was completed in here in the US, in English, so her language proficiency
has been well-demonstrated. And of course, they keep adding new "evolved"
regulations which in turn delay the process further.

The relevance? What will happen to all these imported engineers when the
market is saturated? "Thanks a lot! Now please go away???"

This topic may not well-suited for the TECHWHRL board. Please respond to my
email address.

Sincerely

Andrew Dugas
Technical Writer
Navis Corporation
1616 Franklin Street
Oakland, CA 94612 USA
Tel: 510 763 5715
Fax: 510 763 2516
email: adugas -at- navis -dot- com
www.navis.com


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