Worrying About Offshoring Has Been Offshored To India

from the now-watch-Lou-Dobbs'-head-explode dept

Wed, May 31st 2006 10:14am — Joseph Weisenthal

In one of the surest signs that India has made great economic strides, a growing number of professionals there claim to be worried about losing their jobs, as privatized industries may look abroad for cheap labor. Stories about rising wages in India are not new, but what's new is that employees are starting to voice their concerns and organize in opposition to perceived economic threats. It may be of no immediate comfort to Indian workers, but at least they can look at America's history with offshoring to realize that it has anything but decimated the economy. Really, the story shouldn't be much of a surprise, though one wonders: while some in the US are still surprised (and some are outraged) when they get an Indian call center worker on the line, will Indians react the same way when they discover they're talking to someone in Vietnam or Bangladesh?

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39 Comments

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JerseyRich, 31 May 2006 @ 10:20am

Serves 'em Right!
HAHAHAHA - Poetic Justice!
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anonymous coward, 31 May 2006 @ 10:23am

karma is a bitch.
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to be determined, 31 May 2006 @ 10:56am

Go USA, who is the cheapest bidder now??
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Nipsey Russell, 31 May 2006 @ 11:02am

serves WHO right? whose karma?
what are you two maroons talking about?!?
Its not the Indians' fault that they were offered jobs by American companies. If you dont like off-shoring, then blame the american companies not the people who like getting jobs.
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Bruegel, 31 May 2006 @ 11:15am

Maroons? You idiot its morons.
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cong guy, 31 May 2006 @ 11:18am

buy 'nam
GO 'NAM
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anonymous asian, 31 May 2006 @ 11:19am

Re: serves WHO right? whose karma?
these moron's dont seem to understand that it is no longer about countries but the global economy. wal-mart, an american company, now wants to open stores in india because the average upper middle class consumer has practically the same buying power as an american. Now where do you think the profits are finally end up ?
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anonymous asian, 31 May 2006 @ 11:19am

Re: serves WHO right? whose karma?
these moron's dont seem to understand that it is no longer about countries but the global economy. wal-mart, an american company, now wants to open stores in india because the average upper middle class consumer has practically the same buying power as an american. Now where do you think the profits are finally end up ?
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MikeP, 31 May 2006 @ 11:56am

Maroon is just as insulting as moron, moron.
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anonymous, 31 May 2006 @ 11:57am

Circular
With so many illegal immigrants in USA(and consequently cheap labor), we can probably continue the offshoring chain (india vietnam, bangladesh etc) , till the jobs end back up in USA. offshoring will become boomerang-shoring
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mpiz, 31 May 2006 @ 11:58am

haaaaaaaaaaaaaa
listen up all you dildo breath faggits....Its funny because now the fuckerz will see what its like having some toadstool from another country sounding like haggie from quick-e-mart trying to tell them that their name is Carl when its haggie and we already know its not Carl helping them with shitty customer service.....fuckerz
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"Asok", 31 May 2006 @ 12:04pm

I have no sympathy for them
they had none for me...kicked to the curb after 27 years. Come visit my site and help me replace some of my lost income : )
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Moxie, 31 May 2006 @ 12:06pm

Full Circle
Once congress passes their inevitable amnesty bill for illegal immigrants, you can bet that all these jobs that have been off-shored to India will once-again end up right back here in the United States. Won't it be funny when an individual from India calls a support line and a Mexican answers the phone :)
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"Asok", 31 May 2006 @ 12:07pm

website
theysentmyjobtoindia.com
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Saint, 31 May 2006 @ 12:14pm

outsourcing
AMERICANS ARE DUMB DICKHEADS. EVERYONE KNOWS THAT!!!
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Goldy Hawn, 31 May 2006 @ 12:15pm

Re: serves WHO right? whose karma?
Blame American companies? For what, competing against the Chinese? Or Mexico? We're in a global economy. If you'd rather have the Chinese OWN everything, let the American companies stay with overpaid, underperforming American union employees, and let them go bankrupt. Then, we'll just buy EVERYTHING from China.

By outsourcing jobs that 98% of Americans don't want, and can't afford to keep, American companies stay competitive. Employees can find other jobs, earn a better wage. Who wants to work doing Dell PC support making $8.00 an hour? Not me. And certainly no one I know. If you think those jobs should pay more, good luck, I suggest you start a business and try and compete in the REAL world. Politicians love to spew filth about jobs going overseas, yet they don't seem to want to do anything about it. Oh sure, it's easy to spout off in the NY Times or the Washington Post, but when it comes time to do something? They turn tail and run away.
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outsourcing shmoutsourcing, 31 May 2006 @ 12:27pm

i dont care
i dont care if you're "carl" with a thick indian accent and enjoy watching the yankees. fine, just do the job right. also for the ones that come over to the US to work, GET A CAR YOU CHEAP BASTARD.

thank you.
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Anonymous Coward, 31 May 2006 @ 12:42pm

Re: Re: serves WHO right? whose karma?
Who wants to work doing Dell PC support making $8.00 an hour? Not me. And certainly no one I know. If you think those jobs should pay more, good luck, I suggest you start a business and try and compete in the REAL world.

They should pay more. You have a job that requires complex thought(okay, that -should- require) and skill. You have to deal with assholes all day that yell at you if they feel their intelligence is threatened. You work insane hours with little gratitude....

Dell is making insane profits and paying their executives way to much. Same goes for almost every shitty company in the US. The workers aren't greedy, it's the owners and executives that are greedy. The wealth needs to be distributed a little more eavenly.
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Comboman, 31 May 2006 @ 1:01pm

Insulting to whom?
Maroon is just as insulting as moron, moron.
That depends. Maroon is racial insulting, whereas Moron is insulting to the mentally disabled.
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Wolfger, 31 May 2006 @ 1:15pm

the "global economy" can go to hell
All the people in favor of the global economy say things like "wal-mart, an american company, now wants to open stores in india.. Now where do you think the profits are finally end up?". Well, the answer is, I don't give a F***. I couldn't care less if rich Americans get richer. This "global economy", with its emphasis on paying less and less all the time (while pocketing the profits), is thoroghly screwing over the poor and the middle class. Which, unless you are extremely lucky, you are a part of.
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wolff000, 31 May 2006 @ 1:44pm

WTF?
Ok so the subject is a little vulgar but you'll get over it. Why do people get ticked at other countrries for taking jobs when offered? If someone offered you a job making more than you could make anywhere else in your community would you take it? Of course you would and so would any other peron no matter what country you live in. How many job have been moved to the US and taken from other countries? Plenty I don't know the #s but I do kow it happens all the time. Its part of competeing on a global level. you have to get things done as cheap as possible which means shifting things around including jobs. If you don't like it tough, if you want to do something about don't buy imported products and encourage everyone else to do the same. If that did happen be prepared for a big increase in prices on dmn near everything though. I'm not talking a few cents either I'm talking 10 to 20 bucks per item.
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"Asok", 31 May 2006 @ 1:48pm

took my server down
evidently they take offense to sarcasm and pithy commentary about offshoring. My server's been up for 5 9's for 5 months, but they took it down today : (

for all of you who wish to "hep a feller american out" by monetizing my google ads on http://theysentmyjobtoindia.com, please try again later.

Both my wife's job and my job were sent to India, mine to Bangalore and hers to Mumbai. Mumbai is the capital, used to be called Bombay. I'm humming the Police song now, "Bombs away in old Bombay"

hee hee
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Sure, 31 May 2006 @ 1:51pm

Re: Re: serves WHO right? whose karma?
Are you an Idiot takin' in by all the hype? What jobs don't Americans want? There isn't a job an American won't take but theres plenty of jobs that don't pay enough for some one to even reach above the poverty level. Get a clue Goldy Pawn and quit buying into all the big company's crap!
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Mike Linksvayer (profile), 31 May 2006 @ 1:57pm

Not offshoring
If I read the article correctly government employees are worried about their functions being "outsourced" to the private sector -- typical of government employees worldwide. No indication of worry about outsourcing to Bangladesh or wherever.

It'll probably be awhile, but I look forward to the day when wages have risen enough in India and infrastructure good enough in even poorer locales to make outsourcing from India a boon.

That won't be "poetic justice" or "karma is a bitch", that'll be good for both India and wherever Indians outsource work to.
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dealove, 31 May 2006 @ 2:21pm

different topic
They are protesting about a different topic. This is about Government employees protesting about loosing their jobs to private companies. This has nothing to do with increase in wages or cry over outsourcing. I have been a fan of Techdirt for a long time but i wonder how wrongly they thought abt the topic.

RBI in India is govt. operated. I didnt see in article about increasing wages etc. Pretty strange from tech dirt. Now i will be careful before reading from techdirt.
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Asok's an Ass, 31 May 2006 @ 2:52pm

Asok's a Moron
Asok, I think we now know why they sent your job to India: you're about as sharp as a bowling ball. If you're going to insult a country, at least take the time to figure out that New Delhi is the capital of India, not Mumbai. Fuckin' Nimrod.
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Dan, 31 May 2006 @ 3:04pm

Fact is that generally speaking consumers want the best they can get at the cheapest price.... therefore, companies strive for the same goal (again, generally speaking).

If you want to blame someone, blame the consumer -- you and me. If this country was truly against outsourcing Wal-mart would be bankrupt, and we'd all be watching RCA TVs at home.

Warren Buffett put it very well saying (something to the effect of) "If everyone in India had the same living standards as the US tomorrow, clearly both the US and India would be better for it". We are headed that direction.

If we as US IT workers want to stay competitive, then we must be the most flexible and adaptable in the world. The good news is that at this point, we are.
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Jagadeesh Sunkavalli, 31 May 2006 @ 3:11pm

It's not a fault...
It's surely not a fault of anyone and its not the Indians to be blamed on this. It's all about business, if you want to survive and earn good profits then the businesses have to surely look for alternatives and I am sure that it will happen the same to Indian economy in the very near years. The offshoring has already started in India as Indian firms outsource to China. But te ultimate gain is to the American Economy as for every $1 spent on outsourcing it gains $1.5 in returns. So its all an economical issue But not a social or political issue.
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Joe, 31 May 2006 @ 3:31pm

Re: different topic
dealove,
Thanks for the comment. You're right that the linked-to article specifically mentions outsourcing, though elsewhere others have made the inference that one of the fears is that the private company will be able to move some jobs overseas, to places with cheaper labor. Perhaps it was a mistake to make this jump, though all these fears are pretty tightly related. Thanks for clarifying this, and hopefully you won't let this cloud your view of Techdirt (too much).
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Anonymous Coward, 31 May 2006 @ 3:46pm

I have been layed off from 2 IT jobs that were both outsourced. 1st was technical support and abuse/security network support via email for one of the top 3 ISPs in the country at the time. Job was outsourced to India and the Phillapinnes. And guess what? We even trained these people in ourselves, under the guise that they were only going to cover a 3rd shift for our department, overnights.

Next, my job wasn't really outsourced, but technical support was, but to Canada and Florida. As I supplied Tier 3 Support for Business Customers DSL for a large telecom company and my job, was moved to another division in the company that handled the same functions for the Residential DSL department. BTW, the Residential DSL Support for that Telecom Company, which is still one of the remaining Big 3, outsourced it's support to Mexico, Canada, and I think Pennsylvania.
So not all outsourced tech jobs are going to India, but still to underpaid techs just out of High School. Just to let you know, one of the Canada Outsource centers has a System Admin who is still in High School, and really doesn't know what he's doing, at least according to an ex-coworker who went their to train the people at that call center.
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Asok, 31 May 2006 @ 3:54pm

gee what a maroon
business capital a--hole
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Anonymous Coward, 31 May 2006 @ 9:02pm

Re: Insulting to whom?
" Maroon is just as insulting as moron, moron.

That depends. Maroon is racial insulting, whereas Moron is insulting to the mentally disabled."

I don't recall reading anything in that article that you linked to about racial connotations. I did see information about there being meaning for run-away slaves, but slaves come in many racial backgrounds and colors. So please stop making this about racial crap. I live in the south and that is the primary reason that the south is lazy, ghetto, welfare ridden, and generally written off... becuase people cannot forget the past and move on with their lives.

Now, as for the topic at hand, I work for a company that receives a lot of that business from offshoring. It is nice that a lot of American companies actually own the call centers overseas. But that is not the spin you get from the media. our company owns centers in India, Philipines, all over Europe, El Salvadore, Mexico, USA, Canada, and more. So not all of the money is going overseas. A lot of the cashflow is coming back to the US. Granted, the workers overseas are not contributing to the local economies, but trust me... Walmart and other companies are working bring that cash back here.
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Red Ranger, 31 May 2006 @ 10:35pm

Eastern Europe is Better
Cheap labor and much better infrastructure and proximity to 1st world countries. It takes like 30 hours to get to Bangalore by the time you get done with all the stops. You can get to Prague in 16.
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Razib Ahmed, 1 Jun 2006 @ 6:17am

In free market economy, it is very difficult to control the movement of
private companies. They will go where the labors are cheaper. Indian companies
are flourishing and they are going to behave like the European and American
companies. Now the leading Indian tech companies like Infosys Technologies
Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. are trying to recruit cheap workers from
the third world countries and at the same time they are trying to attract
American workers. It is estimated that now more than

10,000 Americans are working in Indian companies
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Linguistical, 1 Jun 2006 @ 8:58am

So Much Fear
Ah, as usual so much fear driving everyone's comments. Jobs will always go where labor is cheaper when companies can make it happen. Industrial jobs, technical jobs, admin jobs...it really doesn't matter as long as it can be done. It's not like all the jobs are going overseas or to other states, though.

If you are in a job that can just as easily be done elsewhere you should probably think about increasing your skills and making yourself more valuable or be ready to find another job when yours gets shipped off. There's not really anyone to blame, it's just life. Other countries are trying to improve their economies and standards of living, so of course their happy getting jobs. Businesses have to offer competitively priced products and make profits that make their stocks valuable to their investors, which are usually you and me if you have a 401k or IRA. Consumers like cheap products and the majority of people will buy the cheaper product rather than spend extra for quality.

You're not guaranteed a big salary or even a job for that matter. Life is what it is, sometimes cruel and merciless. If you see something that's wrong come up with a solution, don't just complain and cry about it. Otherwise, just learn to deal with it and move on.
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zero, 1 Jun 2006 @ 10:04am

spare it
Spare your well-earned bitterness for now, boys. I'm running a software startup in India (in the real capital, New Delhi), and let me tell you it's still bloody hard to find good people. It's pretty much the same as the US; rank-and-file techs are cheap, desperate and easy to find, but to find real competence you have to keep your eye open for folks from all over the world - no country has a monopoly on the really skilled people.
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Clair Ching, 2 Jun 2006 @ 1:10am

Re: So Much Fear
Yes, I agree with you. I recall a friend telling me once that as employees we were dispensable to our respective companies. It was difficult to comprehend it, as I was fairly new in the workforce but it is true. At any moment you could be said to be 'redundant' - and that would be the end of you in that company.

I guess that with that kind of thinking, I have been used to thinking of myself as someone who would need to improve in order to compete with others better.
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Lillith54, 5 Sep 2006 @ 12:15pm

Re: haaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Do you think you could communicate in a less mature fashion? I'll just bet you can if you put what you call a mind to it. You managed to squeeze in gay-bashing, bad spelling, bad grammar, lack of punctuation, and sterotyping all into one comment. I'd hire an ESL Indian immigrant before you any day of the week.
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MB, 10 Sep 2006 @ 6:07pm

Is it Worrying About Offshoring?
Is it about "worrying About Offshoring" or worrying about jobs and economy?
MB
http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/emergingtech/technocrat
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