Offshoring fears hit US college computing enrollments

CA World Scare stories about the offshoring of IT jobs to locations such as India are discouraging US students from studying computing, according to Yogesh Gupta, CA's chief technology officer.

"Media hype about jobs moving offshore is leading to a drop in computer science course enrollments. This will lead to a dearth of qualified people over the medium term," Gupta told El Reg. He blames lack of confidence in post graduation jobs for a drop in computer course enrollment of between 50-60 per cent over recent years.

Gupta, who studied for his first engineering degree in his native India and sits on the board of several US universities, said the growth in the number of people employed in the IT sector is been overshadowed by publicity about the transfer of support and development work overseas. Engineering degrees normally are far more intense than "sexier" humanities courses. Gupta admits persuading young people to study engineering is a "hard sell" even leaving aside fears about whether students will be rewarded with well paid jobs after graduation. ®