Posted on 08/03/2003 7:42:08 AM PDT by RockyMtnMan
Michael Emmons thought he knew how to keep a job as a software programmer.
"You have to continue to keep yourself up to speed," he said. "If you don't, you'll get washed out."
Up to speed or not, Emmons wound up being "washed out" anyway. Last summer, he moved his family from California to Florida for the Siemens Co., makers of electronics and equipment for industries. Not long after, Emmons and 19 other programmers were replaced by cheaper foreign workers.
Adding insult to injury, Emmons and the others had to train their replacements.
"It was the most demoralizing thing I've ever been through," he told ABCNEWS. "After spending all this time in this industry and working to keep my skills up-to-date, I had to now teach foreign workers how to do my job so they could lay me off."
Just as millions of American manufacturing jobs were lost in the 1980s and 1990s, today white-collar American jobs are disappearing. Foreign nationals on special work visas are filling some positions but most jobs are simply contracted out overseas.
"The train has left the station, the cows have left the barn, the toothpaste is out of the tube," said John McCarthy, director of research at Forrester Research, who has studied the exodus of white-collar jobs overseas. "However you want to talk about it, you're not going to turn the tide on this in the same way we couldn't turn the tide on the manufacturing shift."
India Calling
Almost 500,000 white-collar American jobs have already found their way offshore, to the Philippines, Malaysia and China. Russia and Eastern Europe are expected to be next. But no country has captured more American jobs than India.
In Bangalore, India, reservation agents are booking flights for Delta; Indian accountants are preparing tax returns for Ernst & Young; and Indian software engineers are developing new products for Oracle.
They are all working at a fraction of the cost these companies would pay American workers.
For example, American computer programmers earn about $60,000, while their Indian counterparts only make $6,000.
"It's about cost savings," said Atul Vashistha, CEO of NeoIT, a California-based consulting company that advises American firms interested in "offshoring" jobs previously held by Americans. "They need to significantly reduce their cost of doing business and that's why they're coming to us right now."
Vivek Pal, an Indian contractor for technology consulting group Wipro, whose clients include Microsoft, GE, JP Morgan Chase, and Best Buy, is hiring 2,000 Indian workers quarterly to keep up with demand. Pal knows American workers resent the "offshoring" trend but says all Americans will benefit in the long run.
"Globalization — whether it's for products or services — may feel like it hurts, but at the end of the day, it creates economic value all around," said Pal.
At the end of the day, Emmons has a different view: "If you sit at a desk, beware," he said. "Your job is going overseas."
Asking what Americans will do for a living -- now that we are exporting all the jobs -- is now defined as whining?
Then proudly and prominently brand me with the title of Whiner, because I am not going to stop asking this sensible question.
He's too busy being a CEO to answer your question. LOL!
Don't assume things with leaps of logic and tell me what I can and can't come to grips with, because you're wrong. I know that techs (including self-employed types like me) made way too much, and there is nothing wrong with "shopping for a good deal" as you say.
My thing is "do unto others". I would never have an employee train another person then fire him and have that other person take his place. That's wrong.
If the employer discloses that he is palnning on using him and is going to fire him afterwards that's one thing, somehow I don't see that as what's happening.
Also, if these businesses want to find the market for paying techs, I have no problem with that. I do have a problem with them being allowed to manipulate our immigration laws to do so. That's wrong.
I take it you do not agree that President Bush has been targeting tax dollars to minority groups whose vote he hopes to win?
Do you also disagree that the White House (and Capitol Hill) are not learning the lessons of the migration of manufacturing and are in fact turning a blind eye to the offshoring of American jobs?
By the way, please do not attack me or attempt to classify me as a certain type of conservative because we do not agree on this issue. I have not attacked you and am not drawing any conclusions about your ideology based solely on this topic.
Don't start a class warfare in job protection. It makes Republicans look mean and if you look at the numbers it is a losing proposition.
You are correct. He did control EDS but was booted out in the late 80's for a price of $700,000,000.
Now his creation from which he profited very nicely from is now outsourcing.
Where's the anger and outrage from Ross Perot of his creations(EDS) outsourcing.
Oh that's right it comes from his Perot's supporters on FR. Willie and RLK to do the poltical mudslinging, while leaving Perot out of the loop.
Nevermind.
It didn't happen overnight, did it?
Say what you will about old Henry Ford and some of his nutty political eccentricities, he was a guy who legitimately cared about the people working for him. He strongly felt that his loyal employees should actually have a decent enough living to be able to purchase his products.
We could use a few more Henry Ford style corporatists in America today.
Where do I sign up for a Whiner's Club Card? It is an important question, and Bush better have an answer or some smart Democrat is going to make mince-meat of him in the next election.
AUGH! You are freakin' LUMBER DUMB. Perot no longer controls or has any significant influence over EDS! You would probably be asking John Browning to be railing against the guns he designed because some were used in crimes.
Again, it's always somebody else's job to do this? These folks went to college. Some even to grad school. If they learned anything there at all, they'll be enterprising enough to discover what it means to be the captains of their own success. If they learned nothing and just went throught the motions, and glad handed their way through, that will be seen for what it is too.
Instead of waiting for a hand-out in a bread line, thinking that a "training program" comes from someone other than themselves, maybe they should look inwardly and see what it is about their skills-set they have to market and sell without someone having to think one up for them.
Uh basically it did. Henry Ford's Model T saw to that.
This from #120 got me wondering about the 'wealth' transfer that is taking place and whether or not a government, any government, ought to be condcerned about the revenue generating consequences of such transfers. Would my transferring $100,000 offshore go un-noticed by the feds? Just curious if the money sent abroad to pay wages is, or could be, treated as a type of export.
I don't think you were insinuating that I would approve of companies having their blue collar guys train indians who are here because of manipulated immigration laws to take their place.
However, just for the record, I'm not and never was of the mindset that corruption and immoral behavior is right.
bin Kollij. Any relation to bin Laden?
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