At 07:51 PM 6/24/2005, Brian Donaldson wrote:
>So does this mean I should go look for a programming position in India now?

yes, you should absolutely move to India.


>Why not? After all, I just *love* Indian cuisine.
>
>Gimme a good old chicken vindaloo any day of the week and I'll work for free
>(well, almost free)   :-)
>
>
>Brian.
>
>On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 13:17:09 EDT, Wirt Atmar <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> >From today's NY Times:
> >
> >=======================================
> >
> >June 24, 2005
> >Cutting Here, but Hiring Over There
> >By STEVE LOHR
> >
> >Even as it proceeds with layoffs of up to 13,000 workers in Europe and the
> >United States, I.B.M. plans to increase its payroll in India this year by
>more
> >than 14,000 workers, according to an internal company document.
> >
> >Those numbers are telling evidence of the continuing globalization of work
> >and the migration of some skilled jobs to low-wage countries like India.
>And
> >I.B.M., the world's largest information technology company, is something
>of a
> >corporate laboratory that highlights the trend. Its actions inform the
>worries
> >and policy debate that surround the rise of a global labor force in
>science,
> >engineering and other fields that require advanced education.
> >
> >To critics, I.B.M. is a leading example of the corporate strategy of
>shopping
> >the globe for the cheapest labor in a single-minded pursuit of profits, to
> >the detriment of wages, benefits and job security here and in other
>developed
> >countries. The company announced last month that it would cut 10,000 to
>13,000
> >jobs, about a quarter of them in the United States and the bulk of the
>rest in
> >Western Europe.
> >
> >"I.B.M. is really pushing this offshore outsourcing to relentlessly cut
>costs
> >and to export skilled jobs abroad," said Marcus Courtney, president of the
> >Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, or WashTech, a group that seeks
>to
> >unionize such workers. "The winners are the richest corporations in the
>world,
> >and American workers lose."
> >
> >WashTech, based in Washington State, gave the I.B.M. document on Indian
> >employment to The New York Times. It is labeled "I.B.M. Confidential" and
>dated
> >April 2005. An I.B.M. employee concerned about the shifting of jobs abroad
> >provided the document to WashTech.
> >
> >I.B.M. declined to comment on the document or the numbers in it, other than
> >to say that there are many documents, charts and projections generated
>within
> >the company.
> >
> >But in an interview, Robert W. Moffat, an I.B.M. senior vice president,
> >explained that the buildup in India was attributable to surging demand for
> >technology services in the thriving Indian economy and the opportunity to
>tap the many
> >skilled Indian software engineers to work on projects around the world.
> >
> >Lower trade barriers and cheaper telecommunications and computing ability
> >help allow a distant labor force to work on technology projects, he said.
> >
> >Mr. Moffat said I.B.M. was making the shift from a classic multinational
> >corporation with separate businesses in many different countries to a truly
> >worldwide company whose work can be divided and parceled out to the most
>efficient
> >locations.
> >
> >Cost is part of the calculation, Mr. Moffat noted, but typically not the
>most
> >important consideration. "People who say this is simply labor arbitrage
>don't
> >get it," he said. "It's mostly about skills."
> >
> >And Mr. Moffat said that I.B.M. was hiring people around the world,
>including
> >many in the United States, in new businesses that the company has marked
>for
> >growth, even as it trims elsewhere. The company's overall employment in the
> >United States has held steady for the last few years, at about 130,000.
> >
> >To foster growth, I.B.M. is increasingly trying to help its client
>companies
> >use information technology rather than just selling them the hardware and
> >software. So I.B.M. researchers and programmers are more and more being
>put to
> >work for customers, redesigning and automating tasks like procurement,
>accounting
> >and customer service.
> >
> >Yet those advanced services projects will be broken into pieces, with
> >different experts in different countries handling a slice. This emerging
> >globalization of operations, Mr. Moffat noted, does lead to a global labor
>market in
> >certain fields. "You are no longer competing just with the guy down the
>street, but
> >also with people around the world," he said.
> >
> >Such competition, however, can become particularly harsh for workers in the
> >West when they are competing against well-educated workers in low-wage
> >countries like India. An experienced software programmer in the United
>States earning
> >$75,000 a year can often be replaced by an Indian programmer who earns
>$15,000
> >or so.
> >
> >Most economic studies, including one last week by the McKinsey Global
> >Institute, a research group, have concluded that the offshore outsourcing
>of work
> >will not have a huge effect on American jobs as a whole.
> >
> >But looking at job numbers alone, said Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel
> >Prize-winning economist and a professor at Columbia University,
>understates the
> >potential problem. "What worries me is that it could have an enormous
>effect on wages,
> >and that could have a wrenching impact on society," said Professor
>Stiglitz,
> >a former chief economist of the World Bank.
> >
> >The fact that globalization anxiety about jobs and wages does not extend to
> >executive ranks has stirred resentment among workers. "Maybe the
>shareholders
> >should look offshore for competitive executives who would collect less pay
>and
> >fewer benefits," said Lee Conrad, national coordinator of the
>Alliance@IBM, a
> >union-affiliated group that has 6,500 dues-paying members at I.B.M. "In all
> >this talk of global competitiveness, the burden all falls on the workers."
> >
> >Education and retraining, most experts agree, is a major part of the answer
> >for helping skilled workers adjust and find new jobs to replace those lost
>to
> >global competition. For its part, I.B.M. says it spends more than $700
>million
> >on training its employees for new jobs within the company, and for those
>laid
> >off it offers severance packages that include career counseling and
> >reimbursement for retraining.
> >
> >Even some champions of globalization say the corporate winners should do
>more
> >to ease the transition of the losers. "The wealth creation clearly has some
> >fallout, and there is a responsibility for it," said Diana Farrell,
>director of
> >the McKinsey Global Institute.
> >
> >By one calculation, the cost of softening the blow might not be all that
> >high. For every dollar invested offshore, American companies save 58 cents,
> >McKinsey estimates. And 4 or 5 percent of those savings could pay for a
>theoretical
> >wage insurance program that would cover 70 percent of the income lost
>between
> >an old job and a new one, as well as subsidized health care coverage,
>McKinsey
> >said.
> >
> >=========================================
> >
> >* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
> >* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
>
>* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
>* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *


Regards,

Shawn Gordon
President
theKompany.com
www.thekompany.com
www.mindawn.com
949-713-3276

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *