Filed under: Porsche
Porsche CEO concerned about shortage of engineers
Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, President and CEO of Porsche AG, spoke to a group of high school graduates recently and encouraged them to go into engineering and technical professions. Apparently, the number of students going into these fields is well below the number that are needed to fill the jobs in the labor market. The lack of new engineers coming into the field means that it will be harder for companies to develop new products and compete in the future.
I'm not sure how bad the situation is in Germany, but in the United States there are many reasons why people don't want to be engineers, starting with the fact that professional managers who run corporate America largely don't respect engineers. Technical people have an increasingly difficult time moving up through the ranks. The managers have seemingly decided in recent years that engineers in this country cost too much and that they can just send the work overseas instead, which makes it harder for engineers here to find work. In an employment environment like that, who would want to be an engineer? The Porsche press release with more of what Wiedeking said is after the jump.
[Source: Porsche]
PRESS RELEASE:
Wiedeking: "The shortage of engineers is putting our ability to compete at risk" 244 Ferry Porsche Prize winners honored at the Weissach Development Center
Stuttgart. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, and the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Culture, Education, Youth and Sport yesterday honored the 244 winners of the Ferry Porsche Prize 2006 at the Weissach Development Center. This prize has been awarded to the top school leavers in mathematics and physics/technology at the general and vocational high schools since 2001. With this prize the two partners want to make their contribution towards increasing the appeal of scientific and technical subjects at high schools in the state of Baden-Württemberg.
In his celebratory speech, Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, President and CEO of Porsche AG, said that the number of German high school students going on to study a technical subject at university remained considerably lower than the number required on the labor market. "We urgently have to do something to reverse this trend as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the ability of Germany and its companies to compete in the international arena will be at risk", said the Porsche manager to the prize winners and their parents in Weissach. Although the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer has always been one of the most attractive employers for university graduates in Germany and is thus fortunate to be able to select the best from a large number of applicants, Porsche is also extremely dependent on the supplier industry and this has been facing an obvious shortage of new blood coming into the profession: "This is a very dangerous development", warned Wiedeking. "After all, these suppliers, who are often highly innovative, are the backbone of the German automotive industry."
If we do not succeed in encouraging more young people to enter technical professions in the long-term, the Porsche manager believes that this will have immeasurable consequences for Germany as an economic location: "Who will develop top, internationally competitive products 'Made in Germany' ready to be launched onto the market in the future if there are no longer enough young engineers coming from the universities?" asked Wiedeking. In addition, he highlighted that only engineers and technical scientists are able to develop the new technology of the future which could be used to overcome the enormous challenges ahead relating to climate change.
The Baden-Württemberg Minister for Culture and Education, Helmut Rau, also emphasized the importance of future scientific and technical graduates: "Our society needs qualified and motivated engineers and scientists who will secure the future of our country with ideas and inventions that they then launch onto the market." Rau called upon young women in particular to choose the relevant training courses and studies: "If we no longer look at technical innovation exclusively from a male perspective, then we make way for additional ideas, creativity and innovation", said the Minister. The preconception that women are not suited to technical occupations has been proven wrong in many other countries.
The Ferry Porsche Prize, named after the founder of the Porsche sports car who died in 1998, has been awarded since 2001.
Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, Ferry Porsche's youngest son and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at the sports car manufacturer, also spoke to the prize winners in person this year. In his speech, he recalled the construction office being founded by his grandfather Ferdinand Porsche in Stuttgart in 1931, which produced not only the Auto Union racing cars but also the VW "Beetle", perhaps the most famous car in the world, during the thirties.
His father, Ferry, was the first to build a sports car in 1948, which bore the Porsche name as its official brand. By starting series production of these vehicles, Ferry Porsche laid the foundations for today's sports car factory. "My father was instrumental in the company's success right up until his death in 1998 – first as the owner, managing director and head developer, then as Chairman of the Supervisory Board and later as an experienced advisor", said Dr. Porsche, praising his father's life's work.
The highlight of this year's celebration in Weissach was once again the awarding of six scholarships for internships abroad. The lucky winners were Julia Gentner (Kopernikus-Gymnasium Aalen-Wasseralfingen), Gregor Glomb (Lessing-Gymnasium Karlsruhe), Charlotte Gunsilius (Gymnasium Königin-Olga-Stift Stuttgart), Bastian Hettich (Lise-Meitner-Gymnasium Remseck/Neckar), Till Krämer (Rechberg-Gymnasium Donzdorf) and Florian Winke (Scheffold-Gymnasium Schwäbisch Gmünd). The winners have the opportunity to complete a four-week internship at one of the sports car manufacturer's sales subsidiaries abroad during Summer 2007.
GO
3/9/2007
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Joe 7:39PM (3/09/2007)
Can we send our recently laid off turds to Europe to fill these jobs?
Maybe they can lower the quality of the future Euro cars to match the low quality cars coming out of Detroit.
(My tax dollars can be used for air tickets)
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Storm9 7:55PM (3/09/2007)
wow, what do you guys have aginst engineers?
W/o them you wont have any fancy gadgets or cool cars.
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Ted 8:25PM (3/09/2007)
I hear the same nonsense coming from management in US tech companies. They claim that there are not enough Computer Science and Computer Engineering grads to fill the job positions.
The complaint is a load of bull. Managers at these companies want cheap engineers and lots to choose from. What they really mean is that there are not enough engineers willing to work 80 hour weeks for $60,000/yr.
Engineering is a difficult "non-sexy" profession. Low salaries and the threat of outsourcing jobs further drive down engineering enrollments.
Unfortunately, the guys hiring and paying don't get the basic economics.
-ted
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Snutz 9:19PM (3/09/2007)
Damn, I'm going to school for Mechanical Engineering as we speak. Looks like I'm gonna have to move to Germany if I want a job. Though I definitely wouldn't mind working for Porsche one bit.
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Howard Kerr 10:18PM (3/09/2007)
I agree that this country does not appreciate engineers...of any type, but "asking" high school seniors to consider going into engineering is stupid. You need to get kids in this country interested in a profession BEFORE they graduate, not WHEN they graduate from high school. I wanted desperately to be a car designer, but had no idea how to go about it. By the time I was already in art school, I realized I was WAY behind the curve, training-wise.
If anyone wants to interest kids in becoming an engineer, they ought to get their company to invest in internships and summer "job-shadowing". Why would anyone have an interest in a profession they know nothing about? How can a kid work towards a career in an engineering field if he has no idea what courses he could be taking all through high school...to better prepare for college?
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Chase 10:35PM (3/09/2007)
I don't know what guy #1 is thinking, but I AM a high school senior and I AM going to college to be an engineer. The fact that he refers to my future co-workers as "turds" is hurtful and unnecessary. The world needs engineers, despite what middle-management says on the contrary. I'd love to see a middle-aged Economics major try to properly reduce the drag coefficient of an automobile. In fact I'd like to see a middle-aged Economics major define drag coefficient. So try to keep negative remarks about engineers to a minimum, especially on a site that caters to the "gearhead" crowd.
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Jim 11:15PM (3/09/2007)
I am a Mechanical Engineer. The key is finding a company that values what an engineer does. I moved jobs about a year ago and have been very happy.
The other way to look at it is pay globally will go up for engineers as supply decreases.
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todd 11:16PM (3/09/2007)
Engineers aren't respected because yahoos are allowed to use the term "engineer" for job titles that have nothing to do with actual engineering, like "software engineering" or "Sanitation engineering."
Most people don't even know what engineers do because of this crap.
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Current Engineer for Honda 11:17PM (3/09/2007)
Hey Chase....stop whining.
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PiCASSO 11:28PM (3/09/2007)
Engineers Rule The World.
Nuff Said.
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Will 1:58AM (3/10/2007)
I love being an engineer, living on the Pacific and working Silicon Valley. I was an SAE member while at UIUC (Math, CS & EE) but ended up hacking Linux not cars for a fine six figure+ 35 hour/wk job. Will it last? It has for a decade, and I don't care much about the future of the US tech since I can skip to a ranch in Canada or an island to teach surf & yoga to tourists. Whatever.
Be an engineer, highschoolers. Think about demand, so many kids are going business and there really will be some greater American engineering shortage in the next few years.
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Ryan 2:01AM (3/10/2007)
Has anyone who has made a comment on this website read Atlas Shrugged?
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Toy Yoda 2:21AM (3/10/2007)
I'm an engineer and engineers get sh!t upon. Most engineers make crap for money. They get crapped upon by management. They are asked to work weekends while their bosses take the weekend off. They are held to impossible deadlines. They work longer hours than management. They get the blame when quality is bad. They are the first to get laid off when 'skilled' workers are targetted. Management dangles a couple of grand in stock options and most engineers bite, meanwhile management gets 10,000 in options. You have to love what you do as an engineer, because you sure ain't gonna get justly rewarded. But that last sentence is the crap management feeds you from the first day of freshman class. I wouldn't want my kids to be engineers.
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AndyMF 4:55AM (3/10/2007)
I'm currently in my first year of Mechanical Engineering and I intend to go into the automotive industry. Thankfully I'm not in America, as the outlook looks bleak there judging from the comments. If the supply of engineers is going down then good for me 'cause then I can command a greater salary. I agree engineers aren't treated with the same respect as compared to, say, doctors or lawyers, just look at the numbers of doctor or lawyer tv shows. However, the world would come to a standstill if it weren't for engineers.
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Snix 8:49AM (3/10/2007)
This is absolutely sad to refer to an engineer in such derogatory terms. Without engineers, we would not have any of the wonderful things that make this world an easier place to live.
The CEO of Porsche should have talked about getting rid of bloated middle managers in sales and product development, you know, the ones that really dont develop or create a damn thing.
The engineer/designer has been reduced to a commodity like the parts used to build the car. No wonder theres no creativity in new designs, the poor folks have probably been cost reduced and brow beat to death.
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Matt 9:00AM (3/10/2007)
Ryan,
Atlas Shrugged is so full of straw-man arguments and false premises it's hard to take it as anything more than overwrought science fiction.
'In the Futurama ... , in the mutants village there is a shelf, that is called by mutants' the library. Everything in it was flushed down the toilets from above. When Bender takes a look on it, he finds Atlas Shrugged and says "Nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand." '
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david 11:19AM (3/10/2007)
come on guys, cheer up. after this current political administration gets done selling out the us work force, engineers included, things will eventualy get better. after all the factories and good jobs are all gone and when the us, canada, and the most prosperous eu countries are reduced to third world economies it has to turn around. it may take fifty or so years, but don't give up hope. when countries like china, india, indonesia, and mexico reach their peak and take pity on the impoverished former leaders they will find it much cheaper to outsource jobs back to us. might be for two bucks an hour, but at least it's a job.
who knows, maybe we could use reverse illegal immigration. nah! mexican officials would'nt stand for it.
nafta? global economy? it's the way of the future. too bad it does'nt iclude canada and the us. thanks, bush.
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Stip 11:39AM (3/10/2007)
Just a note to Joe:
German cars are unreliable pieces of garbage. Even Kia and Ford makes more reliable cars:
http://tinyurl.com/yq2g65
The management at Mercedes, BMW and Audi should thank God for their talented Marketers who brainwash you into thinking that their cars are worth the money.
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Howard Kerr 12:21PM (3/10/2007)
Re Stip,
I agree with you.
Yesterday I went to the opening day of the Memphis Auto and Truck show. I was somewhat surprized, when I got around to the Kia exhibit area, at just how well nearly every model of Kia cars and SUVs looked. When they aren't rushing past you on the street and are just "resting" quietly, sitting with a good coat of polish and under decent lighting, they LOOK as good as any Mercedes. I haven't driven a new...ANYTHING in ??? If Kias drive as good as they look, I'd buy one.
Korea has come a long way in a short time, they certainly must value engineers, at least in some critical fields.
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Gale 12:27PM (3/10/2007)
SAE would be the ideal place to market and create more opportunities for ME students and US engineering as a profession. But they're stuck in western Pennsylvania with an ineffective management structure that will never amount to anything. SAE leadership doesn't know anything about engineering or the realities of today's industry.
Other than Formula SAE competition and Mini Baja they have nothing at all to offer that's of real value. Once I graduated I dropped my SAE membership.
If someone could start a relevant engineering society that was fully supported by the industry they could provide a valuable service to the orld, not just the US. The problem ith the SAEs, ASME and IEEEs of the world is they're more concerned with maintaining six figure alaries for beaurocrats than they are providing real value to the profession or industry they supposedly serve.
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