IBM Seeks US Patents For Offshoring US Jobs

theodp writes "IBM and other corporations are seeking patents for inventions covering the offshoring of US jobs. The USPTO is considering IBM's patent application for Outsourcing of Services, a 'method for identifying human-resource work content to outsource offshore of an organization' to 'countries where cheaper labor prices and/or cheaper materials are available.' Then there's Big Blue's Electronic Marketplace for Identifying, Assessing, Reserving and Engaging Knowledge-Workers for an Assignment Using Trade-Off Analysis, which provides a handy-dandy IBM calculator that drives home the point that you'll pay less for IGS India workers, whether onshore or offshore. And with its System and Method of Using Speech Recognition at Call Centers to Improve Their Efficiency and Customer Satisfaction, IBM describes how to operate in 'low cost foreign countries' with 'support people not having good English language skills, or having an accent that makes it difficult to understand them' by exploiting technology developed for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as other accent reduction techniques."

Comments

Exploitation?

[DigiShaman]

by exploiting technology developed for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as other accent reduction techniques

Call it what you will, but know this; if you live in a 3rd world nation and have a hearing and/or speech handicap, your economic chances for a quality life are next to none! This technology will provide employment opportunities that they would otherwise not have. In a 3rd world nation, this could mean the difference between being malnourished and having a comfortable place to sleep at night.

I really wish would some people would stop looking at employment as a form of exploitation. Why not look at the positive aspects of a developing nation. In other words, you should compare their quality of life before, and after. While working in a factory may be slave labor and beneath us, ask your self why they still work there. I'm willing to bet it's because they hate working in the farm plowing fields for even less money.

Maybe it's just me, but I've always placed value on any system or method that helps people raise their standard of living. I don't compare my standard of living with someone else. What I *do* look for is if *their* standard of living has improved. That is what's important. Too look at it differently would be ignorance and class-guilt.