GorT’s company is hiring.  We’re a small company and the founders are ruing the day when they have to make the decision to hire employee #50 with all the federal mandates that come with that.

As part of this hiring, GorT went to a career fair held at his (and the Volgi’s and ‘Puter’s) high school alma mater where job-seekers from high school seniors through college graduates with up to about three years of experience were vying for internships and full-time positions. Simply put, I was floored at the lack of anyone in the STEM fields.  Maybe it’s a factor that those people aren’t looking for employment as they are already employed.

I was encouraged by the enthusiasm and the way in which the attendees carried themselves.  But I seriously don’t know how employable a Spanish-Art dual major graduate is.  Or how many “international conflict resolution” majors are needed?  And seriously, if your undergraduate degree is that specific, you’re in trouble.

The problem is also exacerbated by the skew of the male to female ratio in the STEM fields.  There are many people who push to have companies hire more women or minorities but it’s hard to find qualified candidates in those categories.  Even when you back up to colleges and look at the enrollment in the computer science field – it’s still skewed.  Studies have backed up even further and looked at who is taking the AP Computer Science exam.  Women only make up 18% of the exam participants, 8% were Hispanic and 4% were black.  In comparison, the high school population to compare those percentages to is roughly 50% women (duh), 22% Hispanic, and 14% black.

I think partnerships between the tech industry and high schools could go a long way in improving both of these issues.  GorT is attending his elementary school’s career day later this month and plans on selling the kids on the work, benefits and excitement that comes with a career in the technology industry.  It’s a small thing.  We’re also launching an internship program this year.

Realistically, I know that STEM and particularly Computer Science isn’t for everyone and we need a diverse range of skills and workers in this country.  However, the global marketplace is changing and many of the new jobs and market segments require these skills.  Someone somewhere will fill it.  I just hope it’s an American.

GorT

GorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past for retroinvention. The profits from this pay all the Gormogons’ bills, including subsidizing this website. Some of the products he has introduced from the future include oven mitts, the Guinness widget, Oxy-Clean, and Dr. Pepper. Due to his immense cybernetic brain, GorT is able to produce a post in 0.023 seconds and research it in even less time. Only ’Puter spends less time on research. GorT speaks entirely in zeros and ones, but occasionally throws in a ڭ to annoy the Volgi. He is a massive proponent of science, technology, and energy development, and enjoys nothing more than taking the Czar’s more interesting scientific theories, going into the past, publishing them as his own, and then returning to take credit for them. He is the only Gormogon who is capable of doing math. Possessed of incredible strength, he understands the awesome responsibility that follows and only uses it to hurt people.