Ehrlich on Washington column, October 4, 1999

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Lutherville, Maryland 21093 Washington, D.C. 20515 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of October 4, 1 999 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Fueling Maryland’s Economic Engine A few days ago, I was working late in my office when I came across a Wall Street Journal article ranking the world’s 100 largest public companies. I was struck by several observations and have given them serious thought regarding their impact on the folks back home in Middlesex, Kingsville, and Fallston. I was pleased to see U.S. companies continue to dominate the top ten of the world’s 100 largest public companies. This reaffirms my view that the United States is still the economic engine that fuels the global economy. Further, I observed that the top twenty companies were not traditional heavy manufacturing companies such as Toyota Motor, Mobil, or Dupont. Rather, they were high-tech service oriented companies such as Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, and Intel. This illustrates a changing of the guard for America’s workforce and America’s companies which have successfully adapted from primarily a manufacturing-based economy to a high-tech, service oriented economy. This transition in the workplace is much like the transition witnessed during the Industrial Revolution. Similar to the Industrial Revolution, during the high-tech revolution we are seeing changes in worker’s social demographics and work schedules. The High-Tech Revolution too is changing not only the way American’s do business, but also how we live. Unlike leaving the farm to work in a factory, technology allows some workers to stay at home. In contrast to the past when many of the skills needed were learned on the job, the "High-Tech Revolution" requires workers to learn the necessary skills in the classroom. Today’s workers carry the burden of keeping pace with a rapidly changing workplace. As a result, education has become increasingly important as the number of these high-tech jobs increase, and the availability of skilled