AT&T Chief Randall Stephenson is crying to the media that he "can't find qualified American workers". I would like to translate that for the press: AT&T Chief Randall Stephenson is crying to the media that he "can't find qualified American workers" that will work as cheap as his slaves in India work for.

Being in the tech industry and having a profile on LinkedIn I have received "the call". "The Call" refers to the AT&T recruiting calls that come in every few months. It usually goes like this:

Recruiter, " I have a wonderful opportunity for you to work for one of the premier carriers in the industry"
Me, "Who is this that you speak of?"
Recruiter, " I will need to gather some information first. Your profile says you are Cisco certified."
Me "Yes, but I've been in management for a number of years now and don't do hands on very often"
Recruiter " But you could still do it right?"
Me "Sure, but why would I take a step backwards"
Recruiter "because we have one of the best pay packages in the industry"
Me "Really? So you can pay me as much as I make now to sit around and do Cisco configs?"
Recruiter, "That is correct"
Me, "Ok what does it pay?"
Recruiter, " We start people out at $35K per year"
Me, "Ok, but what do you pay people with 18 years of industry experience with management experience?"
Recruiter, "Up to $55K"
Me, "I was making nearly double that way back in 1998, why would I take that?"
Recruiter, "Times have changed and this is a great wage now."
Me, "I make more than double that now, I think I will stay put"
Recruiter, "I can offer more"
Me "OK, let's hear it"
Recruiter, "first I will need your Social Security Number"
Me, "WHAT!?! Is this AT&T again? You guys always ask for my SS number what that heck do you need that for?"
Recruiter, "Yes, this is AT&T, To give you a better offer, I will need your SS number"
Me, "I don't think so. Goodbye"

So there you have it, another "unqualified" American worker. 

First off, Tech workers with a minimum Cisco Cert and some entry level IT skills can find work starting around $45K per year. So the starting pay of $35K is not going to get you anything more than a Video Game junky that knows a little something about computers, not a Cisco certified tech.

$55K that is offered to experienced techs is 2nd or 3rd year salary level in this industry. The average tech worker in India or African call centers range from $8900 to $22,000 per year and they work under the most brutal of conditions.
  
Let's compare this to the current and former CEO's of AT&T

AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephanson makes Over $18 Million per year. This is 514 times the $35K he is offering his tech workers. Or let's say it costs $25K to educate an American worker for the tech positions he is offering (it's really a fraction of that) he could train 720 tech workers with his salary alone. I wonder what the top 5 at the company make combined?

"AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Edward Whitacre will be given one of the highest-paying retirement packages in 2007, weighing in at $158.5 million, a newspaper reported Friday." If they would have just kicked him out the door and said "I hope you put some money away in your 401K to get you through retirement. If was in our stock, too bad, so sad." They could have trained 6,320 workers to fill their 5,000 unfillable with unskilled American worker positions and done their country a good service. Instead they choose to whine and point fingers.

By pointing fingers, I am referring to the comments by Mr. Stephanson that there are not enough students in tech programs at colleges. Why on earth would anyone want to pay to go to college and get certifications when all the CEO has to do is say "I think I'll hire me some $8,900 Indians and bump my salary up a few million more" and you are out of a job without a $158.5 Million dollar parachute.

But yes it is cheaper and easier to just pay the Indian's 20% of what they are offering the "unskilled American" isn't it?

By the way, Randall and Whitacre were both named to the list of worst CEO's based on the performance of the company and the devaluation of the company stock under their watches.

This is all the result of free trade globalization of the economy that has taken place under the last 3 presidential administrations and under both Republican and Democrat rule in the house and senate. Don't just blame Bush, the Dems are equally responsible starting with Bill Clinton and his support and passage of NAFTA.