The Downside of Having More Engineers

[RobertG]

It seems that a large goal of FIRST is to increase the supply of engineers; however, few people seem to realize the basic economic principle that an increase in the supply of labor without an increase in the demand for labor will lead to lower wages. While a few more engineers will be employed, they will be making less money. Young mentors are, in effect, training their future competition.

How then, do we increase demand? Firstly, I believe, that as in healthcare, a greater supply of engineers will increase the demand for engineers since the new technologies they create lead to more employment. This may slightly mitigate the wage decrease. Secondly, many participants of FIRST do not go on to STEM fields, but they will probably have a more positive view of these fields and will likely hire more engineers in their future jobs.

In any case, a greater supply or demand of engineers will benefit this country. Has anyone else thought about this? While most people do not pick their profession based on the money, this still seems like an important topic we should discuss, and is an unintended negative consequence of robotics programs.

Please note that my knowledge of economics only covers the first few months of my high school economics class, so please comment if you have an economics background.