Intel co-founder's speech

[Wudang]

Feel free to delete this if the topic has been posted before though I haven't seen it. Here is a link (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/33512.html) to a Register article which in turn links to a speech by Andy Grove where he suggests that by 2010 India will employ more software and service staff than the US. I'm in the UK but I think a lot of the issues raised apply here as well.

[Cleon]

I'd tend to agree with him, except put it closer to 2005. :P (I'm losing my job next week, in part due to "Global Resourcing.")

However, I think the current fad of outsourcing to India will be relatively short-lived. I think companies will quickly realize that their QA costs are skyrocketing, their communication with their IT firm is a royal pain in the butt (I'm not talking about accents--I'm talking about daytime here, nighttime there), the oodles of security problems, to say nothing of political insecurity*, the outsourcing will stop or slow down massively in another couple of years.

(* Remember, India and Pakistan are two countries full of religious fundies with nukes aimed at each other.)

[a_unique_person]

I'll me losing my jog not long after. Once again, to India and Thailand. How many programmers and techies have they got over there in Asia? Oh, billions.

[corplinx]

Okay, all of these jobs being developed in India.

What happens then? More Indians have money in their pockets and ones who might work in American stay home and keep their money in the local economy.

What happens then? India's economy develops more. Good for them, good for us since they can buy more US manufactured goods.

I think some people are reading a zero-sum scenario into a situation that is eventually win-win.

[Luke T.]

Those Indians are pretty bright. And they are the world's largest democracy. Don't underestimate them.

America has a lot of religious fundies and we have nukes, too. So what?

[Charlie Monoxide]

Those Indians are pretty bright. And they are the world's largest democracy. Don't underestimate them. You got that right! Also throw in Phillipines, Korea, and other Asian countries.

I've worked since 1980 in the IT field. There has been a steady increase in foriegn workers, mainly from the Asia/Pacific. On my last job (in Houston Texas), easily 3/4 of my team of 25-30 people were Indian.

Most Indians I have worked with did excellent work and some had better English skills than native born Americans/Canadians. I made many friends and got to hear interesting anecdotes of their homeland.

It bugs me when the work is sent overseas to be done. At least there are labour standards in North America that most companies adhere to. IT is just following the business model that manufacturers have been using over the years.

Charlie (3 cheers for global free trade) Monoxide

[Landis]

Originally posted by corplinx
Okay, all of these jobs being developed in India.


What happens then? India's economy develops more. Good for them, good for us since they can buy more US manufactured goods.



That's a pretty rosy scenario, I hope you're right. I tend to be more skeptical. Based on my own observations of 3rd world countries, it is easier to invest money into them than to get money out. They are eager to let you spend money and develop their business and manufacturing but when you want to take profits out of the country, watch out, barriers will appear.

Also, who's to say India will spend its money on US products and not our competitors, the European Union?

[Nikk]

Originally posted by Landis


Also, who's to say India will spend its money on US products and not our competitors, the European Union?

Or indeed Asian products, of which there are plenty.

[c0rbin]

I no longer describe myself as a web designer/developer but as a new media marketing/communications expert.

:p

Spin it, pasties!

[Landis]

I just saw this article in the San Francisco Chronicle. It brings up a whole new area of discussion regarding outsourcing jobs to foreign lands.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/10/22/MNGCO2FN8G1.DTL

I hope the link works. The article describes a Pakistani women trying to extort money from the UCSF Medical Center by threatening to post patients' confidential files on the Internet unless she was paid some money.

"The violation of medical privacy - apparently the first of its kind - highlights the danger of "offshoring" work that involves sensitive materials, an increasing trend among budget-conscious U.S. companies and institutions.

U.S. laws maintain strict standards to protect patients' medical data. But those laws are virtually unenforceable overseas, where much of the labor- intensive transcribing of dictated medical notes to written form is being exported"

[a_unique_person]

I don't have any problem with Indians getting wealthier. My only problem is the transition will be painful.