election 2008 - is outsourcing an issue again?
Sandeep Sood - March 08, 2007
On March 7, Bill Gates testified before the US Senate about bringing IT workers into the US:
"We have to welcome the great minds of this world, not drive them out of this country," Gates said.Nice. To be clear, he is discussing the H1-B program, which currently allows 65,000 foreign professionals into the US every year. He went on to say
"At least foreigners, who are already used to massive government inefficiency, will be more willing to tolerate the compatibility issues and other bugs in Vista."Okay, he didn't really say that. But he did say this:
"The IT industry, I guarantee you, will be in the United States as long as we can get these people to come to the United States."Sometimes, I love Bill Gates. These days, I love him a lot of the time. He is right, of course, but I am worried about the timing of these types of discussions. With the war at the forefront of all political agendas, I am hoping that jingoistic calls to ban outsourcing will remain muted during Indecision 2008. But, as usual, I underestimate the democratic "Mill Worker" strategy. Sherrod Brown of Ohio:
"...skilled workers in my state are watching their jobs move overseas, not because foreign workers are more qualified, but because U.S. companies can get away with paying poverty wages to workers in other countries."Poverty wages? Check the average salaries for programmers in Bangalore, Sherrod.
More on this, soon (because I'm sure more is coming)
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Posted by Sandeep Sood at March 8, 2007 02:38 PM
Comments
1. Posted by
hgquinn
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on
March 8, 2007 02:42 PM
Hahaha. Poverty wages for IT professionals!
Yup, the Microsoft campus is full of starving, impoverished Indian geeks. Can't even get to Bill's old office without wading through a crowd of beggars!
This is hilarious!
Ths sad part about this is that it obfuscates the real problem. There are real issues with workers around the world being treated like slaves (not the least among them the thousands of Asian laborers that built the new American Embassy complex in Baghdad!). And there are too many people losing their professions and sometimes their retirement savings too here in this country.
And stay-at-home moms is now just for the millionaire families. All other parents work out of necessity and arrange day care.
The problem is real.
But you won't see it on the Microsoft campus, or the Google campus.
At least Bill Gates is dedicating the years that could have been his "retirement" to doing something about the issues.
2. Posted by
yogi-one
on
March 9, 2007 09:57 AM
Never saw this post earlier - so here is my take on this. Now, you don't have to take a Bangalore Salary - a guy working for Intel or Google in India's silicon valley and start feeling proud. The real problem that Sharrod's discussing here is the visa abuse by Indian body shops. Getting a Software Architect from Bangalore to India, to work with customers on a $75K salary when competing citizens and residents would want to take home $130K is not justified. This is called Poverty wage and everything that comes with body shop mentality, and it definitely is not a great feeling.
3. Posted by
Sameer R
on
May 20, 2007 02:38 PM
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Recent Comments
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Sameer R commented on election 2008 - is outsourcing an issue again?
Never saw this post earlier - so here is my tak
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yogi-one commented on election 2008 - is outsourcing an issue again?
Hahaha. Poverty wages for IT professionals!
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hgquinn commented on election 2008 - is outsourcing an issue again?
Dear Sandeep
Can't wait for the more.
Dear Sandeep
Can't wait for the more. Great post.
love, Heath