In defense of IT outsourcing

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Why not? Are Indians any less intelligent or less able than Americans? Of course not. They are able to do the same quality work (partly because most of them speak english). Indian tech support people are able to do a fine job. Besides tech support is a cost center. It doesn't create any revenue. It is a fairly low skill job anyway. It also doesn't add much value. Why pay an American 25k to do tech support when you can pay an Indian 5k to do the same thing. Problem is if you decide that you are going to take the moral high ground and not outsource, then your competitors will, and they will thus decrease their costs, decrease their prices and you will go out of business.

That's like saying you're a fool for not running like a madman for the exit when there's a fire in a crowded movie theater instead of walking calmly. Everyone will get killed if no one cares about anyone else.

Outsourcing is damaging to domestic economies and beneficial to foreign economies. When companies move their workforce to other countries, their own country suffers in a small way. Government taxes on outsourced work would benefit both corporations and citizens because it would keep more money within the country for everyone.

I am not creating this outsourcing problem. Outsourcing doesn't exist because you are reading this message board. This is a very serious problem. I would suggest that if it bothers you this much, you might want to consider changing your major to something where this is not a problem. You may not like other areas because they are outside your comfort zone. Well guess what, the world is full of socialization and you are going to have to learn to move beyond your bare comfort zone if you want to be successful, in IT or anywhere else.



Well only you can make yourself do things that you may not want to do. Only you control your destiny. You can errect artifical barriers if you wish. None of us get brownie points in life for having AS.

Information Technology: basically everything to do with computers in business.

Aha...

*wanders out of thread wondering what I was doing here in the first place*

Fight back?? How do you want to that? Coercion? Well that will be all the reason for them to not hire you. What you do have to accept is that right now this is not a good area to enter. There are good areas to enter right now. Only you can choose which area you enter.

Oh it works quite well. It is a common cost cutting technique. Outsourcing is not new, and it isn't depenant on IT or India. The type we talk about is called IT offshoring, which is a type of outsourcing. Outsourcing simply means having some other organization do some work that your employees would have to do otherwise.



I have news for you. They can dictate a lower wage. They can do whatever they want. If you want to join the ranks of the unemployed and underemployed, that is your choice.



We have those. They are called non-profit organizations and governmental entities. But there aren't nearly as many opportunities there because the growth non-existent because there is no profit motive. Profit is not a bad thing. It is the incentive that causes almost all jobs to be created and almost all companies to be created. If you don't have the incentive of profit, people are going to be less motivated and take fewer risks.

Thats a stupid thing to do. You're making this outsourcing thing to be a bigger deal than it actually is.

You're telling people that their career choice is stupid. People aren't having trouble getting well paying IT jobs. The average entry level salary for software engineer (which is actually one of the lower paying jobs) is more than 50,000 dollars.

http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layo ... 00001.html

With outsourcing, I think a business would do well not to outsource their primary function. Like if you make software, don't outsource the actual software writing. Outsource advertising or support or something.

Thomas Friedman of the NY Times has written a book called 'The World is Flat' that I haven't had a chance to read yet. He thinks globalization is a good thing; all the barriers are gone. I don't think it's a good thing, but I have the feeling he's right when he talks about how things have changed. He says the world is flat; but it's evident there's a highly uneven playing field when people working in factories overseas work ridiculously hard for hardly enough to eat. How's an American supposed to compete with that?

Everything is on the verge of changing dramatically forever, it seems. The world has gotten smaller, so to speak, especially with the impact of the internet. Intellectual property laws and traditional economic ideas are the only thing holding it back. There's an unknown future, and the things keeping it back are artificial. There needs to be something other than "Free trade! Wooooo!" and imposing unrealistic trade sanctions.

It's not like all the jobs are going to be outsourced, though. If you're an American company, the project manager in India may not really understand the goals of your company and your specific needs or your customers. It's probably not good to outsource your core function as a company. Like if you make software, don't outsource the actual software making, outsource, like, marketing or support.

The other day I found myself talking to this kid at a bus stop. He was a middle schooler from India (his father had come to work as a scientist at Dartmouth). He was really smart and knew like 4 languages. He had some interesting observations about things in the US, and I could obviously relate to his views as an outsider (in every sense). Now, this is anecdotal, but it made me think. I think there is a significant amount of anti-intellectualism in American culture. And a country that can inspire the best in its students can have an advantage, whether that's India, China, or the United States.

I don't know. In the mean time, things are decent in the US, despite not being as nice as in the dot com boom, and I think things will be okay for a while. Things are going to change in the future, big time and we'll have to adapt. But I think someone who is skilled, ambitious, and willing to buckle down and work hard will succeed in some sense of the term. That's my plan. I'm gonna follow things I enjoy and try to monetize them enough to make a living.

average salary for System administrators, another relatively low IT position:

http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layo ... 00135.html

almost 64,000

I say we instate Socialism in the US.

HugoBlack what Im trying to figure out is why you have decided to post all these pessimistic posts?


and alex as far as me having a lack of tact, I lose all my tact when my emotions are stirred

Or you could make your career as a black smith, despite the real world problems with that.

The US GDP increased at a rate of 3.8% in the first quarter of 2005. I see little to complain about regarding that. The government taxes profits, not costs. It doesn't matter what your costs are. However if you can keep your costs low, your profits can be higher, and thus there is more to tax. As for keeping money here, we have had a trade deficit for a long time and that hasn't caused much of a problem. Yes we send more money abroad than what comes here, but also create more wealth than everyone else combined, so it really doesn't have a negative effect.

True the outsourcing is only part of the problem. Other parts include the supply imbalances.

No their career choice isn't stupid, and creating a robust debate on here isn't something that is bad. As for salary.com, don't go by them as you bible.

Correlation doesn't imply causation.