Posted on 10/14/2004 8:47:35 AM PDT by valkyrieanne
Another thought: what if we develop a critical need for programmers for national defense?
Ding-dong...
They can take my keyboard when they pry my cold, dead hands from it...
ping
They left me my keyboard.. but took away my compiler. :-(
I know a fair amount of programmers. So much code for so many processes and instructions is already written. Many of my programmer friends describe their jobs as now, "cut and paste". Why pay somebody 80K a year for that?
I know that is not how all programmers work but seriously, a lot of the programming going overseas is nothing more than the assembly of already existent code.
Techies need to learn business skills. Programming can be done anywhere. But business (and especially marketing)tends to be culturally specific to a given country. If you learn business skills, you can be the guy directing the programmers, no matter where they are working.
Programming used to be an elite job. It no longer is. Sounds like part of the problem is that the American programmers simply won't take $53,000 per year. "We're too good for those peanuts!!" No you're not.
Powder..Patch..Ball FIRE!
Not around this part of the country. The consulting company I work for has hired many additional consultants in the last 12 months and our work backlog continues to grow....
:-(
Thank you congress.....NAFTA.....$$$....bribery outsourcing.....What's a citizen's VESTED INTEREST...?
The main problem is, there is very little government can do, IMO, to counter such long-term economic changes. It's up to the workers to either adapt or lose out.
I know this experience is anectdotal, but Im an Information Systems major at Mississippi State and the recruiters have been hitting the campus pretty hard. The amount of companies coming here and hiring has increased markedly from two years ago. At the same time, the market for fresh out of college grads and is probably not indicative of the industry as a whole, but it does make me feel a lot better about my major than I did before :P
But even the optimists believe that many basic programming jobs will go to foreign nations, leaving behind jobs for Americans to lead and manage software projects.
No longer can programmers get a job on their skills alone. To get ahead, programmers now must also be leaders, managers, and businessmen.
If you have notepad.exe (or a compiler) and a great idea, outsourcing will not effect you.
The hard part is figuring out that idea everyone wants.
I got the latest update for Quickbooks and it was a mess. It was the first upgrade from quickbooks in seven years that actually was worse than the old version. If that's what programmers are doing, send them over until they can get things right the first time.
Oh, for friggin' crying out loud. I was busy and didn't see the debate. That's just the most *brain-dead* response, especially when you're talking to a technical worker (engineering, IT, computer programmer, mathematician) or professional (radiologist) affected directly by outsourcing.
Notice that there is a simple solution to these problems. Bring more American jobs home, and keep them here. Thus, the trade deficit is addressed. And, with more Americans enjoying well paying jobs, tax revenues will soon diminish the federal budget deficit.
End the loss of American jobs now!
The next job outsourced may well be YOURS!
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