U.S. jobs: Next stop, India?

MySanAntonio.com ^ | 09/21/2003 12:00 AM | By Sanford Nowlin and Travis E. Poling

[11th_VA]

Customer service agents field calls from the United States at the Customer Asset call center in Bangalore, India. Labor can be 70 percent cheaper than in the United States, and companies that shift their customer service departments to India can save up to 60 percent.

Associated Press File Photo

[risk]

This is the "free" market at work. Why "complain?" /sarcasm

[11th_VA]

No one ever told me the 'Free Market' would cost so much ...

[Lael]

This is the "free" market at work. Why "complain?" /sarcasm

I won't complain...of course, Bush could look for votes in India...he will NOT be getting mine.

[old patriot]

Since when has it been one political party or the other that could guarantee one's employment, unless it was a union job? Ever since America was a nation we have had problems of either a newer and cheaper work force would come onto our shores or the jobs were sent overseas.

Wait until India starts losing their jobs to China and see how quick they will start to yell.

Americans need to start looking for other ways to make livings when these things happen instead of complaining to Washington for some kind of public assistance. Since when did any politician ever claim that they could keep some plant open or business solvent?

We all need to start thinking for ourselves and quit looking for politicians to fix anything but the next election.

Old Patriot

[waterstraat]

While Olivares said he's not sure how much his replacement is making, he's willing to bet that the worker is making a lot less than his $65,000-a-year salary

Heres another one against free trade, against american companies maximizing their profits, etc.

It wont do any good, the company that replaced him with cheap foreign labor, is going to make plenty of extra profits, to enable them to give even more money to people in congress to make sure that cheap foreign outsourcing continues. As long as the politicians are given campaign contributions by the companies doing the outsourcing, our laws wont change in eliminating over paid americans.

[waterstraat]

Americans need to start looking for other ways to make livings when these things happen instead of complaining to Washington

Exactly which jobs are available for American workers over the age of 50 who are displaced by cheap foreign labor? Perhaps you can help by pointing out exactly where the jobs are for them, esp if they are older workers?

[Captainpaintball]

I lost my credit card the other day...The guy on the other end of the line was from India. He later transferred me to an operator in the states, and I'm not sure who was worse. At least the guy in India spoke the King's English, and not "publik skool-ificated" ebonics! Hep me! Can I get a witness?

[Consort]

Bush could look for votes in India...he will NOT be getting mine.

Then who is going to get your vote and what is the person going to do for me?

[kimosabe31]

Indeed, even the Republican Party has turned to outsourcing recently. The Indian magazine Business Standard recently reported that the GOP has hired HCL eServe to set up call centers in two Indian cities to make fundraising calls into the United States.

I'll remember this the next time I get a call from the RNC for money.

[kimosabe31]

Basically what this is all about is transferring US jobs out of the country in order to "fatten" the annual bonuses of the CEO's and exec's. Many of the oversea's hi tech types studied in the US at US taxpayer expense. Now they're back to take away the jobs.

[Ciexyz]

My sympathies to anyone who's losing a job over outsourcing to India. But the more I read about this problem, the more jaded I'm becoming. I never made $60,000 plus a year. Why should I care about these $60,000/yr jobs being lost? I'm retiring soon. I want the cheapest damn price for every service I get, for every article of clothing that I buy. Why should I sympathize with these guys? It's everybody for themself in this economy.

Nobody sympathized with the Rust Belt states when their steel jobs went overseas. Now it's the turn of other sectors of our economy. It's no fun, right? Maybe their areas will start to look like the run down steel mill towns that litter the Western PA landscape. They can turn it into a waterfront mall and pay people minimum wage to work there.

[CasearianDaoist]

Thar we later denied. Seems to be a plant.

[BrooklynGOP]

But the more I read about this problem, the more jaded I'm becoming. I never made $60,000 plus a year. How come?

[Texaggie79]

so, it is your belief that, left to its own devices, the free market will destroy itself?

GOOD. You are learning. Pick up that hammer and sickle and join us brother!!!!

[Texaggie79]

Where you go wrong is assuming that high prices mean good pay.

[CasearianDaoist]

I tell you why you should care. The Dems may well win the election over this - and win back congress. It is not just IT. Outsourcing means that almost any middle class job can and will be sent overseas. I fear it is too late as it is already planted in the back of everyone's mind. This is a very big deal. If we get two more Dem terms where they can control congress the nation will not recover. We will go the way of the UK. It will be over for us - we will side into third world status withing 15 years. Your retirement money will be worth nothing.

People that think that we are on the cusp of a conservative revolution in this country better get a grip on this issue, we are likely to get tarred with it even if it was sent in motion years ago. Conservatism will lose out for another generation - it will be the New Deal all over again.

[PianoMan]

This pops up again & again as urban legend. This article should have known better.

[jas3]

My Dad started a consulting business over 50. My mom started renting out database servers from their house when she was 66.

You might consider accountancy or banking or any of dozens of jobs.

[Bryan Resheske]

Are people on this board actually suggesting that the Imperial Federal Government step in and tell private enterprise who they can and can't hire, what they can and can't do with their own businesses?

Is this the Free Republic spirit?!

Overseas outsourcing actually spares American jobs as it allows a business to continue to exist in the international marketplace by shopping out certain non-local functions, as opposed to this firm simply going out of business due to an inability to compete.

The TRUE source of this outsourcing trend are such things as:

a. Minimum wage laws
Which drive up the cost of goods and service at every level of the supply chain.

b. Restrictive mandatory daily overtime laws
Which force companies to hire unnecessary, costly employees due to the fact that the current workforce is not allowed (under law) to fill in certain shifts.

c. Paid Family Medical Leave legislation
Which makes it very costly financially and managerially to employ American workers.

d. Confiscatory levels of taxation
Which create unnaturally high consumer prices, forcing companies to cut fixed and variable costs at any and every level

What we need is much LESS governmental meddling in the affairs of private enterprise and the employees who drive this nation's economic engine.

Outsourcing to India is but a symptom of a very large government-induced problem.

Pure, free-market capitalism is the most moral and ethical economic system, as it distributes the largest amount of goods and services to the largest number of individuals in the shortest amount of time, and compensates people at all levels for doing so.