Dell Says They're Not Taking Work Away From India
from the carefully-worded dept
Yesterday, everyone was talking about how Dell was supposedly shifting tech support back to the US from India. However, when asked about it in an Indian publication, the company denies it and says they're not shifting any work back to the US. So, which is it? If you read what Dell's people actually said, it's not clear at all that they're moving the jobs back. The original article just said that in response to complaints they were going to "make some changes" - but didn't specifically say what those changes were. In an Associated Press story about this, someone from Dell says "we're moving some calls around" but doesn't indicate where or how.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Not a Public Concern, Really
So I expect Dell to remain (officially) circumspect about what is really going on, although I believe it was on this site that I first read about this from an "insider".
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Plain English
Dell says:
" Tell Dell what you want in plain English" ...
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Stinky Marketing
Sounds like this "plan" backfired a bit.
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Re: Plain English
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Re: Plain English
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Re: Not a Public Concern, Really
Let's get a few facts straight buddy:
1) 2,000 jobs at 38,000/year = roughly $20 million in federal income tax dollars that just got shipped to India. Add another $4 million/year in state income taxes, and in 10 years, our collective pot is lighter by a quarter BILLION dollars.
2) Those dollars were budgeted by the US government, and will be spent, whether Dell keeps those 2,000 jobs in the US or not.
3) Since those dollars are spent, and the revenue isn't there, the US government will borrow the difference.
4) My kid gets the bill for this.
5) I (and every other US taxpayer) get the bill for 2,000 unemployed Dell workers who are now getting unemployment checks and food stamps. That adds up to about $40 MILLION tax dollars (not counting the food stamps).
6) Heard of something called "Social Security?" Dell (when it EMPLOYED those 2,000 Americans) paid $5.5 million/year year into the Social Security system to support current retirees. Poof. That's gone. (You got a mother buddy?)
7) Hey, guess what else is poof: health insurance for 2,000 people who you and I will now get to foot the bill for every time they need to see a doctor.
8) Ever look at your pay stub Mr. Executive (course not, you're too busy looting your shareholders for parties on Sardinia!) Those 2,000 Dell workers helped pay for Medicare, to the tune of about $80,000/year. Not one single Indian now contributes to the health of American seniors.
9) The roads around Round Rock, Texas have potholes that need filling. The sales tax in Round Rock hovers around 8%. Assuming the average person spends about 40% of his/her income locally for sales-taxable items, the city of Round Rock is now out about $2.4 million a year.
Next time you open your trap, take a minute to think about your proposition. EVERY time Dell, or any other company ships jobs overseas it has dramatic affects on us all.
You may now return to your head to its place within your buttocks.
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Re: Not a Public Concern, Really
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Re: Not a Public Concern, Really
It also ignores the fact that the company itself, and many of its shareholders who potentially benefit are American and pay taxes as well.
It's fair to do the analysis and then weight the costs and benefits, but please don't completely leave out all facts that don't prove your point.
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Re: Plain English
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Re: Not a Public Concern, Really
Yeah, takes me back to yesteryear, those planned economies of the Soviet Union...yeah, sounds like your paradise there - you must miss the ol' USSR...imagine...every worker hired being the responsibility of some social worker instead of the decision of the company. SNIFF...excuse me while I cry for what we lost when that worker's paradise failed.
I vote for you to be the bureaucrat who sits in some cubical who decides how many people Dell should hire based on some social welfare figure instead of a business decision. Let's see how fast you run the company into the ground and get everyone at Dell laid off (see: France, Bull Computer - this has been tried before)
The bottom line is that employment by private companies is not a public concern. As a shareholder can complain or sell (or short) the stock and as a consumer you can boycott the company, but the bottom line is that this is Dell's decision to make - no one else's.
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Re: Not a Public Concern, Really
Governments went hog wild during the boom times and exercised the same "irrational exhuberance" as everyone else... and that adjustment (government cycles lag way behind the standard business cycles) is going to take a very long time to normalize and you can count on your kids paying for that. The collapse of Social Security was calculated (note, I didn't say "predicted") long before the tech bubble and remains on schedule. Anyone who actually repects Social Security as an institution is either retarded or will live to regret their faith in government beaurcrats.
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Re: Plain English
Of course there's nothing more amusing than an Indian call center worker trying to fake a Texas accent (and yes, I did hear this on Dell's federal support line before they move the calls back to the US).
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Re: Plain English
AND NO , I am NOT a BIGGOT !
You want my AMERICAN $$$ than SPEAK ENGLISH DAMMIT !
I don't give a shit what race, religion or color you are, but I'll be damned if I'm going to " cow tow " to the " politically correct bullshit " & attempt to interpret " Spanglish ".
EVERY dollar that is spent sending jobs overseas to people that don't even understand our language are less dollars for America.
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Re: Plain English
You've just solved your own problem. If you don't like the companies hiring people overseas, don't buy from them. You're not forced to. So why make such a big deal out of it? Vote with your dollars.
Besides, I'd argue that you're wrong that it's "less dollars for America". If it saves the company money, it gives them more dollars to spend elsewhere, and can help them grow the company into a larger company that can spend even more here in America. It's not so black-and-white, no matter how much you want it to be.
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Re: Plain English
I don't own a Dell ... and I vote with my $$$ as is the democratic thing to do. I don't purchase from Wal-mart either because they use slave labor from other countries and systematically put independent business people out of work while failing to give health insurance to over 50% of their employees.
I just fail to see how displacing American jobs stimulates the American economy & have yet to hear a good rebuttal.
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Re: Plain English
However, by automating and outsourcing those things we've grown our economy consistently.
Why do you believe it's different this time? Because it might impact your own job?
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Re: Plain English
And how do you define that as even ethical ?
Outsourcing is a politically correct term for paying slave wages.
It impacts an entire technology economy. I can easily replace this job with another so my beliefs are still the same.
Your comparing apples and oranges.
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