by Simon 16 Replies latest social current
Bangalore, India, home to outsourcers such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro Technologies, now employs 160,000 high-tech workers?a number Indian government officials project will grow to 200,000 as soon as next year. California's Silicon Valley employs 175,100 high-tech workers, according to statistics from the California Employment Development Department.
What's gone wrong? Has anything gone wrong?
CBS 60 Minutes on Sunday was about this. Something like 400,000 call center jobs were sent abroad last year--to India, China and Russia mostly.
My friend's job was one of those that got farmed out, and she was laid off.
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Simon-
Much has gone wrong! I have worked with silicon since my demise with the WTS in 1976. I wrote systems for Digital Equipment (RSX, RSTS, VMS, DECNET) and many other firms, run my own software consulting company and built products. Ever see what a Bangalore project looks like when it's said and done. I have! Real crap. But the bean counters say we'll save, so I watch as they go into their grave. The family jewels were stolen and the Beast shall come from the East. Bill Gates sucks, and so does Mr. Ellison. IBM first gave it to Japan, and now everyone steals anything and everything - including "The Insurgents." Silicone Valley will once again grow dates one day - if lucky.
The sector I am in is highly affected by jobs to India, but I'm not bitter. We live in a global economy and think it is unfair for the 6 richest economies to hold a ransom over the others. Interesting that China is predicted to be the worlds richest power within 10 years though.
It seems that the US has spent less and less on R&D and that this too is being farmed out. Big corporates and their shareholders don;t really care as they make as much (if not more) profit if work is done in India as in the US. Big companies claim to care about and value their employees but often only do this while it's convenient.
The UK gave up any semblance of an IT industry a long time ago.
Is this progress or a bad thing? Should protectionism be employed or free-market economics? If IT people are to be abandoned to market forces then why not farmers? Why all the subsidies to help them compete (when they cannot)?
I think a lot of it is led by "bean counters" who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
There is a massive difference in a top software developer being paid $50 an hour and a half-rate programmer being paid $20 an hour. A top developer is probably worth 10 second-rate programmers but to a bean-counter the cheap colum wins.
Is this a mistake though? Do we devalue and dismiss foreign skills too much? ... at our peril?
One thing I find *very* surprising is the rush to open-source and free-software which really plays into the hands of other countries who want to develop their IT industries (IMO) ... it's just so ... communist !! (why does it gain ground in capitalist America?!?!)
Well, Simon, primary businesses like farming who ARE profitable, such as Scotch Whisky are mostly owned by far east companies already, I think it's 85% of Scotch Whisky, though I could have made that up.
If the whole thing does go full circle and our country (which closely follows the US on the heels) becomes overtly politically correct, litigation obsessed and education obsessed to it's downfall - well they already own all our primary (food production) businesses (our asses) without bringing intellectual rights into it.
Here's an interesting point to throw in the pot (just to confuse even more people on my views) My friend who went out to New Zealand to live just came back.
A side point here, someone like me could retire now at 33 by moving to New Zealand.
But a case of appendicitus and a wife going to give birth in 6 months was enough for them to give the whole idea up and move back.
damn! there goes my master plan of flooding silicon valley, via flooding the fault lines, and setting off explosions deep underground in key strategic places. it wont be worth it now.
I do not like it but we live in a global economy - we need to get used to it - the advanatge is that when India and China become advanced and rich there will be extra markets for our products which they can not afford at the moment - so it still could be a win win - if China became democratic also - it would be incredibly strong and could easily rival the USA
