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Microsoft Outsourcing High-Level Work
philistine writes "The Seattle Times reports
A Seattle labor group said it has new evidence that Microsoft is shifting high-level work to foreign contractors, including work on the next version of Windows. The evidence is a cache of Microsoft contracts with Indian technology vendors that were leaked to the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, an AFL-CIO affiliate that has focused on outsourcing in its effort to organize tech workers."
A Seattle labor group said it has new evidence that Microsoft is shifting high-level work to foreign contractors, including work on the next version of Windows. The evidence is a cache of Microsoft contracts with Indian technology vendors that were leaked to the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, an AFL-CIO affiliate that has focused on outsourcing in its effort to organize tech workers."
Linux will be free off all those foreign contributions.
Are they outsourcing high-level work, or work on Windoze?
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Are these outsourced workers going to be working on the same Windows code that Microsoft claimed would be a national security risk if it was ever exposed? Anyone else remember that?
The key to not getting bumped as a tech wage slave by outsourced labor is to not just learn a TECHNOLOGY, but learn a BUSINESS alongside it. Then your value will lie in the combination of business knowledge and tech know-how that you have. The kind of work value that this results in is not nearly so easily exported.
I'll say it until people understand it or refute it: you cannot be both for free trade and against outsourcing. They are the same thing. There is no difference between importing computer hardware and importing software services (outsourcing) except in the particular sector affected.
Perhaps the ranters should send back all their hardware to Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, etc. and buy American!!
Imposing Libertarian views on everyone online since 1992.
Here's the god awful color again. How tough it this to change? Who decided on this horrible, horrible, horrible color scheme?
Color scheme decisions got outsourced.
The evidence is a cache of Microsoft contracts with Indian technology vendors
Isn't it strange how Slashdot's outsourcing stories are always about India and China?
They're never talking about shocking evidence of contracts with e.g. Canadian or Irish technology vendors.
Not that I'm suggesting that this is barely veiled racism. You can get modded down for being honest about that.
The real Ralph Yarro posts as Anonymous Coward. Anyone else is an impostor.
saying-good-bye-to-the-middle-class dept.
Forget the many economist that make arguments like this one, stating that outsourcing will ultimately benefit consumers...
Forget government data that downplays the significance of offshore work...
Forget the fact that companies like Microsoft sell millions of dollars worth of software to foreign countries around the world...
...and just jump to the conclusion that the entire US middle class is doomed.
Nice!
Based on upvotes, Ageism is the only "-ism" Slashdotters care about and think isn't SJW
They "outsourced" cars too... Or would you rather be driving a Pinto? The company's profits go to the owners of the company, shareholders. You know, the people getting $75B in dividends from Microsoft (Bill Gates once famously said $640K should be enough dividends for any company). Now, I disagree with the DMCA because it is anti-capitalist. But capitalism in itself isn't cruel. It sucks for some people, but it's better than socialism, where it sucks for everybody.
(This is gonna get me modded down for sure).
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
Actually it can be. Here are some of the advantages:
- Lower Cost of Living, I bought a house in Austin for $100k
- More space
- Nobody looks strange at you when you date your sister or cousin
- You can date your farm animals
- With such a low average intelligence, you are much smarter than anyone else.
But there is one disadvantage: You are in Texas.Fight Spammers!
Why should a company's profit be at the expense of an individuals welfare? /. are probably stockholders in some form (mutual funds, 401k, individual stock investments, etc). Most of them would also prefer to invest so their money gets a 10% rate of return than 1%. If your stock is underperfoming then you sell it and get one that gives you a better rate.
I find it amusing how people feel companies are some nebulous single entity.
Stockholders are the ones who own the company, and I would bet most people on
As consumers you look to maximize your money when you spend. You would prefer to spend $50 on a new cell phone from company A than to spend $100 on the same cell phone from company B.
So basically we are telling companies, make more money for us, but we want to spend less on the stuff you sell. How can companies respond? Reducing costs, like materials and LABOR. Outsourcing isn't something new, its been done for decades in other industries like manufacturing. People in IT have been benifiting from reduced costs on items and increases in stocks they own because of outsourcing in other industries, now that it's their job in jeapordy they complain.
If you want to know what drives corporate greed, just look in the mirror.
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
Drill baby drill - on Mars
I'a a 25-year veteran of working as a software developer as both a permie and a consultant.
I know the politically-correct policy is to consider that programmers from countries such as India do reasonable work, but my experience is that it is just not true. I keep finding that the resultant source-code from outsourcing is abysmal.
I've worked on projects for several different companies where programming has been outsourced to India and Russia, and it has always cost way more money to put it right than outsourcing the project has saved.
I expect Microsoft will also find this out the hard way, and to the end-users disadvantage.
I'll give you two hints:
Have a look at the number of Chinese and Indians in the world. And second, have another look at the average GRE scores of Non-US citizens.
Yes, a more rigorous education system could be the cause. Yes, the US education system could be improved.
But taking your arguments from that data doesn't help your cause.
Non-US citizens taking the GRE are already a subset of the Non-US population, and probably not the dumber one. Chinese and Indians are 1/3 of the world population, so they are represented accordingly. Especially when you consider that those major CS departments are well funded and aren't discriminating in respect to nationality.
"Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"