Posted on 05/26/2003 3:51:30 PM PDT by Lessismore
WASHINGTON: On a recent April afternoon in Silicon Valley, moments after he was told he had been laid off from his computer programming job at a Bank of America training centre, Kevin Flanagan stepped into the parking lot and shot himself dead.
Some of America's technology workers, who like Flanagan have also had to collect pink slips over the last several months, think they know why Flanagan took his life: Bank of America not only outsourced his job to India, but forced him to train Indian workers to do the job he had to give up.
In the weeks since his death, the techies have used the incident as fuel to fire a campaign against outsourcing to India, an issue that now seems poised to become a major sticking point between the two countries. Several US states are already considering legislation to ban or limit outsourcing.
Bank of America is one of several major US corporations – General Electric, Microsoft, Intel are among others - under scrutiny for outsourcing jobs to India. The Bank created what is called a "Global Delivery centre" in 2000 to identify projects that could be sent offshore.
Since then it has signed agreements with Infosys and Tata Consulting Services (TCS) to provide solutions and services.
In an e-mail exchange with this correspondent, Kevin's father Tom Flanagan said "a significant reason for which my son took his life was indeed as a result of his job being outsourced."
"Did he blame India for his job loss? No. He blamed the "system." He couldn't understand why Americans are losing jobs. Rather I should say he understood it economically, but not emotionally," Flanagan said.
Bank officials, who did not return calls relating to Flanagan's death, have said in the past that the deal with Indian companies would effect no more than 5 per cent of the bank's 21,000 employees, or about 1,100 jobs, in its technology and operations division.
According to some surveys, the US has lost at least 800,000 jobs in the past year and some 3.3 million jobs will move overseas over the next few years because of outsourcing, mostly to India.
The Bank has also acknowledged that it had asked local workers to train foreigners because such knowledge transfer was essential. According to Tom Flanagan, his son was "totally disgusted" with the fact that he and his fellow-workers had to train foreigners to do his job so they could take over. "That sir is a travesty," he said in one e-mail.
US tech workers are challenging the corporate world's claim that it is outsourcing work to improve bottomlines and efficiency. Some analysts have also pointed out that US corporations were being forced to tighten up by the same people who are moaning about outsourcing, and who, heavily invested in the stock market, demand better performance.
But on one website that discussed the Flanagan case, a tech worker pointed out that data processing consumed only a small per cent of revenues and was hardly a drain on the Bank's profit.
"(It is) a prosperous bank which has let greed trump any sense of patriotism or social responsibility," he fumed.
When there was great social disparity, loss of faith in democracy, and some bunch of nuts with a crazy idea, bad things have happened. Look at Germany, Italy, and Russia. All of them had democracies (yes even the russians for a very short time) that fell. Germany could have just as well have gone communist as nazi; actually national-socialist name was to get the left on board.
My point is that a democratic government cann't afford to fail it's people economically.
As far as goverment revenue being the only difference between left and right. Are Bush and suply side economists who say decreasing taxes will increase government revenue all on the left? I have general questions to try to find out which way people are leaning:
1) Do you believe in increasing goverment power vs. rights of citizens?
2) Do you favor more regualtion and envolvement in industry.
Commi: YES,YES
Facist: YES, no
Libertarian: NO, NO
Me personally: NO, it depends....
We aren't just exporting jobs, we are exporting all of the technology so that foreigners have no reason to buy anything American. This is a textbook for absolute stupidity and the destruction of our own country. It's irrational, American business suicide.
The United States government should shut down such predatory nonsense. They should tell China, "You don't get access to our markets unless American companies, building American products, made by Americans, can sell in China.... PERIOD"
I was assuming that a Barbra Streisand/Tom Daschle-like quote wouldn't require the sarcasm tag on FR. It wasn't like it was subtle or something. :->
Come on in, let's discuss your fears!
How do you FEEL about the trauma of globalization.
CMM too constraining? Not up for change?
Don't worry someone here will listen to YOU.
So sorry to hear of your misfortune. In the game of winners and losers, it seems too many good people are losing and some of those that are "winning" (as we see on this forum) are heartless and arrogant.
excellent article. Question: What can we do to change what is happening?
I submit you're 100% right. The goverment gives companies charters, and they do it in our name, and "we the people" may put conditions on those companies to protect our democratic way of life. Conserve our constitution rights and the soveriegnty of our democratic nation first, then optimise bussiness laws to the situation.
Ok, but now half the guys here are going to call us commis. Screw em, this maybe this is the real "conservative" viewpoint. Nice job "studying the works of Adam Smith, Ludwig Von Mises, Hernando De Soto and the founding fathers." Seems you're one of the few here that knows what he's talking about.
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