Professor Ho
EN-101 Section K24B
1 December 2009
Architects: Alchemists of the Future
In the past few years, major changes have been taking place within our economy. Most
of these changes are evident in the labor force. Depending on what type of job it is, the changes
can be devastating to the workers in that field, particularly the low-skilled workers. The cause
for this change occurring is the outsourcing of jobs to countries like India and China. Many of
you would say that you are not worried because you are in college currently acquiring a degree
that demands comprehensive knowledge in order to graduate, ensuring you a top notch position
in a high paying company.
According to Alen S. Blinder in the article “Outsourcing: Bigger Than You Thought,”
“The rate of offshoring in the service sector will accelerate, and jobs requiring both relatively
little education and extensive education will increasingly be lost to workers overseas...” (327).
This goes to say that regardless of the thousands of dollars spent on your college degrees, most
of you are likely to end up losing your jobs to overseas workers. Some professions are in higher
risk of outsourcing than others, but there are certain career paths that will provide you a life
without worries about where your paycheck will come from. In spite of the fact that outsourcing
is the major issue and is indefinitely causing chaos for many workers of today’s economy,
architecture is a particular career that will not suffer from outsourcing.
For some of us, high school or college students, we tend to picture how our lives will turn
out after graduating from college. We would hope that our degrees will keep us from getting
fired and help us have a steady job. Seeing as how things are going in this day and age, that may
be close to a miracle. In the recent past, people were often told by their parents that in order to
attain a stable job they needed to focus on going to school and having a greater education than
what they had. Although that notion is not wrong, things have slightly changed and it is no
longer as easy as saying that the better education you receive, the better or more stable job you
will have.
By 2010, the unemployment rate in the United States is believed to reach 10.5 %.1 One
reason in the rise of unemployment is because workers are being ousted and replaced by
machines. But the main reason is that jobs are being outsourced to countries overseas. So then
why are jobs being outsourced when today’s economy is being threatened with an increase of
unemployment? This is because it’s cheaper for the U.S. to do so. Foreign workers do the same
jobs that Americans do but for much less. So what can be done to prevent your job from being
taken away by foreigners? The answer is simple: focus on a career that can ensure you a firm and
secure financial future.
There are two main types of jobs: personal jobs and impersonal jobs. Personal jobs
require you to be present in order for your work to be done, while impersonal jobs can be done
via phone or internet. From these two choices the one at high risk of outsourcing is the
impersonal job. Architecture, for example, is a personal service job. An architect needs to be
present at a work site in order to supervise the construction or designing of a building. “In a
world enriched by abundance but disrupted by the automation and outsourcing of white-collar
work, everyone, regardless of profession, must cultivate an artistic sensibility.”2 Architects are
designers, innovators, and creators. They create the surroundings we see in our everyday lives.
1
2
Gordon, Edward. “The Global Talent Crisis.” The Futurist (2009): 34-39. Print.
Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind. New York: Penguin Group, 2006. Print.
Creators are needed now more than ever before, therefore making architecture a very shorable
career.
To survive in today’s economy, everyone needs to understand that we are all each others’
rivals. People need to improve their skills, be determined to succeed, and their work should also
stand out amongst all the other people who want the same that you do. As Daniel Pink mentions
in his book A Whole New Mind, this world needs people who can achieve “R-Directed thinking”.
Pink mentions that the right hemisphere of the brain is more creative and innovative.
Meanwhile, the left hemisphere of the brain is more logical, doubtful, and realistic. “It is a form
of thinking and attitude to life that is characteristic of the right hemisphere of the brainsimultaneous, metaphorical, aesthetic, contextual, and synthetic…” (26). L-Directed thinkers
would be considered people who work from what they have learned, the degree they earned
while going to college. They would also be known as knowledge workers. Architecture is a
form of design. Designing consists of changing something already existent and creating a new
product that will be coveted by others. However, what designers need in order to be designers is
creativity and imagination, which is why architecture would fall under the R-Directed profession
category. Gone is the Information age (knowledge workers), here comes the Conceptual age, the
age of creators and innovators.
Knowledge workers in the U.S. are competing against candidates throughout Asia.
Careers like engineering or computer programming are rapidly being ousted by foreign workers.
Engineering skills are in high demand which is why many countries overseas are training their
citizens in these fields. In India each year, there are 350,000 college graduates with engineering
titles, making this a reason why most software companies outsource to India.3 To make matters
worse, these position are being filled by people who work for much less than your average
3
Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind. New York: Penguin Group, 2006. Print.
American knowledge worker. It is better for the U.S. budget to outsource jobs to India because
the cost for production would decrease. Many of these types of jobs are on the brink of
extinction throughout the U.S., though not all of them. In order for knowledge workers to
survive in this economy, they need to find ways to improve what they can already do. It is not an
impossible thing to accomplish, but it will take more than just having a pretty college degree
hanging on your office wall. You can easily be replaced if you do not possess the required talent
or skills. People need to be more motivated, determined, intellectual, and they also need to be
leaders. For this they’ll need to use R-Directed thinking and less L-Directed thinking. The key
to future success is innovation, imagination, and hard work.
Compared to L-Directed type jobs, designing requires a different approach. In order to
be a designer, you’ll need to be able to refine a product that has already been produced. People
need to see the bigger picture. When designing, professionals analyze the situation. They think
of ideas that can offer citizens a chance to experience beauty and inspiration. A designer needs
to bring forth change. This type of thinking is not something that can be learned simply by going
to school, it is just a different way of thinking. In other words, it is like expanding your horizons
and seeing things in a different perspective. Architects bring change to the world. Amongst that
change, is the change that is beneficial to the United States. For example, “going green”. This
country is currently undergoing a transformation of environmentalism. Who do you think
designs the buildings that are now friendly to the environment? Architects and designers are
incorporating the going green concept into their designs so it can benefit the environment in the
long run.
Although outsourcing is good for the country’s budget, it is bad for our citizens.
However, outsourcing will only affect people who did not invest their time learning a skilled
trade that cannot be done without physical contact. America is in need of people who can
actively work on the field to better our civilization and networking physically. Architecture is a
job that requires talent, innovation, and physical minds present. For that reason the field of
architecture, amongst others, is safe from being taken by under skilled workers overseas.
Throughout history, architecture has always been present. Towns, cities, states, countries, the
world, they all need architecture so that they will not only have livable conditions but also works
of art; masterpieces. Architects can create works of art by a means of designing buildings,
homes, or cities of the future. Now that is magic.
Works Cited
Gordon, Edward. “The Global Talent Crisis.” The Futurist (2009): 34-39. Print.
Laurence, Behrens, and Leonard J. Rosen. A Sequence for Academic Writing. 4th ed. New York:
Pearson, 2008. 319-43. Print.
Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind. New York: Penguin Group, 2006. Print.
Reitz, Victoria. "Want to Outsourceproof Your Career? Don't Become a Commodity."
Machine Design 26 Apr. 2007. Print.