India official says high-tech jobs will continue to leave USA

USA Today ^ | 3/3/2004 | David J. Lynch

[Fledermaus]

There is plenty of good paying IT work all over the country. I've seen the payrolls (through a payroll service) and did a lot of their conversions to a payroll system late last year.

I saw people getting paid unbelievable rates of pay and working for temp IT companies. Most had gross incomes after the 3rd quarter of $100-120K. And in cities were that is considered a very good income like Atlanta.

[lelio]

but because developing sophisiticated solutions for a client you never get to see...

Congrats on your new position, it sounds like its worked out for you.

What I hope to see is a change in the industry's pricing model. Right now a lot of it is going to a commodity per hour charge. That's almost guaranteed to give out poor results as the bean counters in accounting just see that India, Inc wants $20/hr for a 4 man team while just one person in the US wants $50. And since the accountant is removed from the project (and besides, most projects fail anyway) why not go with the cheaper solution?

What needs to change is for solution providers to become more aligned with the profits of the company. So instead of charging $X/hr for work charge based on how much it helps out the company. Their revenue goes up by $100k a year, you get $60k of that (or whatever percent).

Now both parties are highly motivated to provide the best solution. In per hour models the client wants to spent the least, and the contractor wants to charge the most. Now its switched to a healthier "we'll both profit" relationship.

Course this means that people just can't be code monkies anymore, but have to have some business saavy. Am I adding value to this client? What can I do to make them gain market share? Instead of "how can I do this for cheap and find another sugar daddy to pay my bills?"

I'm somewhat hopeful this will come around as long as crooked CEOs and CFOs are shown doing the perp walk on TV. Flush out the bad players and hopefully those with longer term visions will replace them.

[Fledermaus]

I see you'll be voting for Kerry since you like the idea of arresting CEO's that do legal things to keep their companies profitable and in business because you think it's "crooked".

I guess you'd rather they go completely out of business so no one would have a job so you can be happy they would be as miserable as you.

Maybe you should be more concerned about the protectionist attidtudes that LOSE jobs because they, being idiots, can't see the big picture. Like protecting the sugar industry because some farmers in Louisiana or Florida will "lose jobs overseas" that people like you whine about. All while you ignore the high cost of sugar moving candy making jobs like Brach in Illinois sending 7,000 jobs to Canada not for cheaper labor but for 67% less sugar costs.

Or the fact Bush's tariffs on steel may have helped those "jobs lost overseas" in Pennsylvania, Ohio, etc. but ignored all the jobs lost in companies that depend on a fair price for steel to manufacture their products.

There is only one simple word for the type of thinking that does nothing but whine about this job here or there while ignoring the total effect: SELFISH!

Thus, Democrats. Probably unionized at that.

Hope you are happy with President Kerry!

[lelio]

I see you'll be voting for Kerry since you like the idea of arresting CEO's that do legal things to keep their companies profitable and in business because you think it's "crooked".

Like Ken Lay? Rigas? Jeffrey Skilling? Bernie Ebbers? Those are the people I'm talking about -- and I would hope you realize that, but it does get in the way of your rant about me wanting President Kerry.

[Fledermaus]

HA! I love the Enron case. Mostly because it's so misunderstood. Instead of getting to what they did illegally, everything they did is considered so to the point everyone ignores the things they did that, while being weird, were perfectly legal if not encouraged in the tax codes set up by the same politicians that want Ken Lay's head on a stick.

I never heard the Dems whining about Global Crossings or WorldComm when they were being paid off by them.

Then there is the legal BS about doing one thing the SEC tells you to do while the IRS says do it another way. So you have one pompous idiot Congressman (and people writing and reading the news too f'ing stupid to understand anything discussed) ranting on about WorldComm expensing assets (as per SEC rules) and another ranting on about how WorldComm put expenses on their balance sheet (as per IRS rules to increase taxable income - the IRS would depreciate a pencil if they could).

Yep, some laws were broken. But I'll guarantee that once the cases are closed, 90% of what they are accused of doing will be shown as legal. Unethical maybe once the light of day is shown upon those practices, but legal.

And to have members of Congress pass judgement on these "evil" capitalists when they pass laws and budgets and spend money on a level that would make Ken Lay look like a Saint is ludicrous. Just as ludicrous as eagerly buying into the hype before anyone has seen a day of justice in the courts. And when it comes to runining the pension funds of stockholders, the federal government has no competition.

But I hope you are happy with the bogeymen under your bed. I have bigger fish to fry.

[AM2000]

There is plenty of good paying IT work all over the country.

Yes, but the point is that there used to be a lot more. Much of it has gone to India or been otherwise outsourced.

[Fledermaus]

But my point, that there are plenty and many unfilled, shows that a lot went to India to fill the demand also.

Not hard to understand.

Personally, I think there's a huge number of IT folks that got their bubble burst when the .dot bubble did likewise and they are still bitter they aren't living high on the hog! lol

[Cronos]

Yes, but the point is that there used to be a lot more. Much of it has gone to India or been otherwise outsourced.

Supply and demand....

In the early 90s there were jobs for 'HTML programmers', now folks'd laugh if you put that in your resume. As industries mature, they do plateau -- that's whats happening in software now.