October 20, 2013.

More Businesses Want Workers With Math or Science Degrees

"Now, if you happen to be interested in old prints at all----" he began delicately.

MALTA, N.Y.----New York state got an influx of high-tech jobs five years ago when its offer of more than $1 billion of incentives, including cash and tax breaks, persuaded Globalfoundries Inc. to set up a semiconductor plant near Saratoga Lake in this town 25 miles north of Albany.

Winston came across to examine the picture. It was a steel engraving of an oval building with rectangular windows, and a small tower in front. There was a railing running round the building, and at the rear end there was what appeared to be a statue. Winston gazed at it for some moments. It seemed vaguely familiar, though he did not remember the statue.

There has been one hitch: Because it is hard to find enough people with the right technical skills around here, about half of the 2,200 jobs at the plant were filled by people brought in from outside New York, and 11% are foreigners.

"The frame's fixed to the wall," said the old man, "but I could unscrew it for you, I dare say."

In terms of basic math and science skills, "we're really floundering here in the U.S.," Mike Russo, Globalfoundries' director of government relations, said in an interview.