Os EUA atraem milhões de emigrantes todos os anos: muitos para trabalhos que não exigem qualificações específicas, mas também muitos outros, habilitados com formação superior que não encontram colocação nos países que pagaram as suas licenciaturas ou os seus doutoramentos.
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The Challenge: Gathering a Different Kind of Intelligence
destaca-se já não a competitividade que a importação de qualificações imprimem ao crescimento dos EUA mas a concorrência que se estabelece, nessa base, entre as regiões do país.
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Fala-se, e com razão, frequentemente do déficit orçamental português. Nunca ouvi falar do déficit da balança de competências que decorre da nossa exportação de doutoramentos financiados pela Fundação para a Ciência Tecnologia. Talvez porque, neste caso, a balança funciona ao contrário: quanto mais a exportação excede a importação maior é o déficit.
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E ainda ninguém deu pela subtileza.
A nne Fischer is the kind of talent the Washington region wants to keep.
She came here about 18 months ago to work at the Naval Research Lab in the District on a postdoctoral fellowship sponsored by the National Research Council. Fischer had just graduated from Michigan State University with a PhD in chemistry.
At the Navy lab, Fischer, 27, has analyzed materials that can be used in supercapacitors, which are battery-like devices that can release a lot of energy quickly. Scientists believe supercapacitors could be useful in a number of electronic devices, such as computers, cellphones and even hybrid vehicles.
Fischer helped plan a Post Docs Conference and Career Fair that was held in Gaithersburg last week aimed at keeping postdoctoral fellows in the Washington region, including those looking for careers outside of academia.
"Post docs know the technology, know the research," she said. "You lose that experience when they go somewhere else."
About 4,000 PhDs come to the Washington area each year for post-doc fellowships that last from one year to five years, and about half work in federal laboratories, said Sally Sternbach, executive director of Rockville Economic Development Inc., which seeks to attract and keep companies in Rockville.
In the past, Sternbach said, the postdoc fellows "sort of drifted away," often to seek jobs at colleges in other regions.
About two years ago, as local leaders looked for ways to bolster growth of technology companies in Maryland, she asked "what are we doing to try and keep these folks here?"
Not much in an organized way, Sternbach found, although some labs were recruiting on an individual basis.
So, last year, Sternbach's group sponsored a conference to provide the PhDs with a glimpse of career opportunities at area technology companies and in government. It was attended by 327 scientists and researchers. Last week, the second conference was held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and drew 563 postdoc fellows in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The participants attended panel discussions on how to start a business and what it's like to work at a start-up company; how to make the transition to the corporate world; and how to put scientific knowledge to work at nonprofit organizations, think tanks and in jobs that require science backgrounds, such as law and patent examination.
"It was an impressive group," Sternbach said. "Wouldn't it be sweet to keep those brains here?"
Washington is not the only area hoping to create a cluster of smart people, said Tim Priest, executive director of the Greater Washington Initiative, the economic development marketing affiliate of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. Denver, Austin, and other cities are aggressively recruiting highly educated workers, he said.
"The future of economic development and regional success in general is based on the talent war. Who has the best talent pool is going to be the most successful region in the future," Priest said.
Bush to Seek 3 Percent Raise For Civil Service and MilitaryPresident Bush will propose a 3 percent pay raise for federal employees and military personnel in his fiscal 2008 budget, scheduled for release on Feb. 5, according to a senior administration official.
Last week's conference drew 34 organizations interested in hiring postdoc fellows. Most were companies, but some were federal agencies, Sternbach said. Organizers for the conference included Maryland and Montgomery County agencies, George Mason University, George Washington University, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NASA, National Institutes of Health and the Federal Laboratory Consortium. The Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship provided financial support for the conference.
Fischer, who attended the first conference because she wanted to learn about career opportunities in this region and was asked to help plan the second conference, plans to move to the National Science Foundation later this year for a fellowship that will expose her to science policy issues.
"I want to stay in the area, so I think it is a fabulous idea to keep the talent in this area," she said. "There's no way that one hundred percent of the people will stay, but to let them know they are wanted and valued, that is important."
As Congress Left for its Break . . .
The House approved a $43 billion financial services and general government spending bill that would provide federal employees with a 3.5 percent pay raise in 2008. The proposed raise matches an increase previously approved by the House for military personnel. The White House opposes the raise, contending that the president's 3 percent proposal is adequate to meet hiring and retention goals.
The Senate confirmed Howard C. Weizmann as deputy director of the Office of Personnel Management. Weizmann has led the Private Sector Council at the Partnership for Public Service, helping federal agencies obtain corporate expertise and advice for difficult projects. He is a former executive at Watson Wyatt Worldwide, the human resources consulting firm.
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