Outsourcing Evolving

Shree writes "An article at NYTimes suggests that the outsourcing mantra is shifting to reasons of hiring global talent, tapping new potential minds and amassing top global human resources. Its not just software companies trying to save a buck by outsourcing; now its about Berkely trying to hookup with Tsinghua University and institutes in India, and companies like IBM and Microsoft looking to setup R&D labs in Asia."

Comments

And people wonder why.

[massivefoot]

If nothing else, this should serve as a short, sharp shock to Western governments. Why are we having to outsource these kinds of technical jobs? Most people don't quite seem to appreciate the crisis that the UK is going through in maths, science and engineering. I'm guessing the situation is similar abroad?

Re:And people wonder why.

[Fred_A]

Because of course mere survival is the purpose of one's existence. The fact that a century ago people have fought and sometimes died for the right of working for more than a mere pitance, for the right of not seing their chilren mangled by machines in factories, for the right to be able to afford a doctor, for the right to be able to rest every now and then may mean nothing to you. They must be spinning in their graves.

In that case, you can feel free to go work in a US meat factory. It sounds like your dream environment. Workers are daily wounded or killed, they have no benefits whatsoever, they have the most basic of pays, the very idea of unions is ludicrous. It's the least protected work environment in the US with the least benefits. Maximizing shareholders value at its best.

Nowadays if office or factory equipment is reasonably safe to use, doesn't irradiate you or chop your hand off at a whim, it's because of those damn workers that demanded too much. Don't you think safety goes against the bottom line ? In the short term it certainly does. And what matters nowadays except the short term ? People in Wall Street can't count beyond a couple months anyway.

Sure, let's have a level playing field, leveled at the bottom. The chinese have factories with truncheons to motivate workers, fine, truncheons for everybody, we wouldn't want those poor western businesses to suffer now would we ?

It's not as if anyone was paying the price except for the actual population of your country. Except of course for the happy few very top execs who will keep on enjoying their insane lifestyle.

It's nice that suicidal sheep like you (still spitting "communist" like a good brainwashed 1950s TV watcher) are still alive and well. The abusive corporations still have sweet days ahead of them...

In the mean time I'll stick to Europe where we're still trying to do something around it.

whatever they say...

[elynnia]

...it's all about the money.

I've been thinking...

[boomgopher]

Everyone tends to agree that Americans/Westerns have a hard time competing with outsourcing, due to the huge differences in labor costs between the first and third world. Fine.

But what I'm beginning to see is that the real problem is the cost of housing in the West.

Yes, everyone bitches about high gas prices, health costs, etc (which all seem tend to be trumpeted by politicians with alterior motives), but these won't bankrupt you. Housing can destroy you financially if you aren't careful.

If housing was cheaper, I would be okay making a lot less than I do now. However, I'd personally be screwed if I made much less than $100K (rent is over $2000/month in my very plain, old neighborhood in California). I don't really spend much on anything else.

I'm approaching middle-age, and this is the number-one factor that I face trying to safely raise a family. Frankly, health costs pale in comparison as to how much I have to pay even to rent a halfway safe home.

I think the financial industry has pulled a fast one on us, and are milking average folks dry. The environmentalists don't help either, with their 'smart growth' policies (i.e. 'no growth').

Re:I've been thinking...

[antifoidulus]

EXACTLY! Mod this man up as much as you can.
Younger Americans are really caught between a rock and a hard place now. Renting is one of the worst financial moves you can make(the others being credit cards and interest only adjustable rate mortgages). Even if your home doesn't increase in value you are still better off owning than renting, because every month instead of paying a landlord, you are paying a bit to a bank and the rest to yourself. And by the time you totally pay off your home, you don't have to pay a monthly fee to anyone(well, perhaps the government :P), saving you tons of money you can put to use in investments etc.
The problem for people who got to the game too late to get a house cheap is that it's almost impossible for us to own homes. First and foremost you have the cost: Home prices AND rents have been spiraling ever higher, but wages have not. So while we are making money, what little we can save after paying outrageous rents hardly makes a dent in the downpayment we would have to pony up just to get a mortgage at a reasonable rate.
The second of course is job security. Owning a house doesn't make any sense if you aren't going to be in the area more than 5 years, but how many of us here can say they have a job secured in their area for that long? If you sell it before is up, all the interest and fees would have made it hardly worthwhile....
I see the US becoming more and more like places such as Italy and Japan where kids live with their parents till they are married, and maybe even a bit after that. When I was working in Japan, my co-worker was a 30-something graduate of the University of Tokyo making good money, but he still lived with his parents? Why? Because he could actually afford a decent lifestyle that way(such as owning a car!) As much as people like to make fun of nerds living in their parent's basement, if I wasn't in Germany right now and could find a job close to my mom's house, I would live in her basement for a while. It's getting harder and harder not to....