Slashdot Mirror
Ask Indian Techies About 'Onshore Insourcing'
This Slashdot interview has a little twist to it. Instead of using email, I'm going to relay your questions 'live' to people I meet while I'm here in New Delhi, speaking at LinuxAsia2004. Offshore outsourcing has gotten a lot of attention on Slashdot (and NewsForge) lately, but I figure that from this end we ought to call it 'onshore insourcing' instead. Feel free to ask other questions about 'geek life' in India, too; I'll ask as many questions as I can of as many people as I can, and post their answers when I'm back in the U.S.
And is this for here or to go?
Ask them how they like my job.
Xenon, where's my money? -Borno
Ask them if slashdot is popular in New Dehli?
We are liking it quite fine, thank you! And if you're out of work, we have lots of openings for kwickiemart sales clerks here in Bangalore!
You know... because of the cow thing...
(It's a joke people!)
---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
Are they hiring? I'll gladly get up and move there if it means a steady job doing something I love, for a decent rate. Do they hire stupid white men? I'm available immediately.
Vacation = usually 25 days a year. This may be called "earned leave" or "privileged leave" and is encashable for money if not consumed.
Official holidays (legally *required*) = 10 days a year. These can not be encashed.
Medical insurance coverage is required.
So what you're saying is, benefits are better in India than they are in the U.S.
Plenty of Jobs, good benefits, I think I'm moving to India.
-- Jason
"Quality of life"? This is a phrase that (and I make assumption here) many Americans use but I do not think they understand. From where I come from, I know people who eat dirt. Not in a joking sense, but in a real sense, as a boy I knew that some dirt would sustain, that you could eat it and survive. I now make 7000 rupees a week... this is a fortune, a true fortune. I can feed everyone I know on what I make in a day.
I am not to be rude, but "Quality of Life" is to be understood.
[How long is your work week?] Legally 40 hours. People may spend 50 to 60 hours if required. Usually it is, thanks to the stupid conference calls that US managers love.
My secret Blab-A-Tron anti-offshoring weapon is working! Muuaaaah ha ha ha!
Table-ized A.I.
Sure they are, if the shore you're referring to is on the Rio Grande.
Right... because domestic slashdotters have such an exquisite command of the english language...
If only the Americans on slashdot wrote this well.
So if a US programmer charges $100/hr, and Indian $10/hr and charges $1/hr, do Indian comapines find themelves outsourcing to other countries (i.e. China, Russia?)
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
My Q:
Given that the US has reaped the benefit of capitalism for hundreds of years which has seen them (and the rest of the first world) exploit the third world ruthlessly, do you not find it hypocrytical that US IT workers are now complaining about receiving 'the back of the invisible hand'?
I sense a new business opportunity!! Grey computer boxes with big floppy ears on them!
---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
Was that when you were working in India, or when you were working in California?
But, somebody obviously did some research in coming up with these characters.
Or maybe they just asked their IT friends to name all their coworkers.
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
a succelent dinner for two is about fifty rupees
Does that include tip?
There are plenty of skilled techies in the US loosing jobs.
Apparently, you aren't one of them. Skilled, that is.
In America, $60,000 won't get you nearly as far as $6,000 can get you in India. I think I'll move to India, and since I'm used to working long hours, and barely scraping by financially, in India I'll be able to undercut the spoiled Indian software engineers by quite a bit. It's going to be nice doing to Indian engineers what they did to me.
What's the male-to-female ratio in the professional centers in India?
If I worked or visited India, as an American geek would my chances of going out with a hot Indian girl be any greater than my current (slim) chances of going out with a hot American girl? As Valentine's Day approaches in the US, inquiring minds want to know.