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Nielsen Collects FL Tax Breaks, Then Outsources Jobs
theodp writes "The poop is hitting the fan over tax breaks given to ratings giant Nielsen Co., which pocketed millions in Florida jobs-creation tax concessions but has turned around and dismissed hundreds of local workers after inking a $1.2B outsourcing deal with Tata Consultancy Services of Mumbai. Lou Dobbs is on the case. Lou may go even more ballistic once he sees the Nielsen-Tata pact, which assures Nielsen that OT worries are a thing of the past ('there shall be no additional charge for overtime work'), allows Nielsen to have unsatisfactory Tata hires replaced within 4 weeks of starting with no charge for the original or re-performed work, gives Nielsen up to 6 man-weeks of free labor when a Tata worker is replaced, and allows Nielsen to make 'any TCS Resource' disappear with no more than 5 days notice if their presence 'is not in the best interests of Nielsen.' Nielsen execs have launched a PR counter-attack, pledging not to bully 85 year-old ladies in future layoffs. In a Letter to the Citizens, Nielsen CEO David L. Calhoun explained that Tata won a 'rigorous competition' to get the job, failing to mention that Tata was also tapped by Nielsen EVP Mitchell Habib in his CIO roles at both GE and Citigroup."
On the other hand, what's the point in being super-rich, super-powerful and super-connected if you can't do whatever you want whenever you want to whomever you want without interference from the proles? Honestly, high-quality recreational drugs and depraved sexual favors from supermodels, private bankers and those on your blackmail list can only entertain for so long, right?
We are gutting good jobs from our economy at a time when we truly can't afford it.
You don't seem to understand the difference between jobs, income and wealth. You should apply for a job with either Lou Dobbs or Obama.
It's a complicated plotical situation due to support for the Taliban from various Pakistani factions and the existing disputes between India and Pakistan. India in Afganistan could be a spark to spread the war furthur so it's really a lot better that they are not there.
Iraq is a completely different story but unlike the USA there is absolutely no benefit to Indian companies to participate. There is not likely to be any benefit to the Indian government either - Australia was rewarded for it's participation by a "free trade" deal that turned out to be a one sided poisoned chalice. There really is no ideological reason for them to do it either and it wouldn't take a long memory to remember the US technology sanctions on India.
All that aside I agree with you that most of these jobs are better off done by locals or at least people within the same company so there is some degree of accountabiity. Personally I think most of the outsourcing is about shifting money about on the books to make one area look good while the overall cost may have even increased. There's also a very unhealthy obsession with wage costs even in areas where it is a very tiny fraction of expenditure and where employing people on cheaper wages can drive those other costs up dramaticly. In some situations things are cheaper simply because the outsourcers are not worrying about expending extra money to deal with risks - they will get their money whether things work or not. The ultimate stupidity is outsourcing everything other than management and sales to India - especially when the Indians are far better at both of that than the average US manager or salesman and they are on the other side of the world so there is nothing legally that can be done if they hijack the entire company to sell outside the USA. In China they have mastered the act of the "second shift" - knockoffs that ARE the same product as the original just made after the end of the production run and often made at the expense of the contractor.
Oh, spare me.
..That China only tolerates a playing field tilted in its favour. It's called "globalisation" and it means "we will undercut your domestic industries by dumping cheap trade goods into your stores Japanese-style (or better yet we'll just steal it ... fuck your IP, all your patent belong to us), we will spread cheap crap throughout your retail sector and decimate your domestic industries, and your declining population will helplessly buy our junk [TVs, clock radios, DVD players] like so many zombies. We'll pocket the margins to build and maintain our rapidly developing military, space endeavors, and weapon systems, and pay for the wars that our hunger for world domination will invariably trigger."
Let's try this again, from a slightly different perspective:
You cannot lay this all at the United States' feet. As you correctly stated, this is globalization which means we're all fucking responsible.
Grow up. See the world as it is. America may be the current 800 lb. gorilla but that situation won't last, and you'd best realize that there are far more dangerous governments on this planet, far worse scenarios that will be played out.
America has done a metric fuck-ton of good around the world, a lot more than any other country in recent history. Yes, we've also done a lot of bad stuff too, but hell of a lot less than Russia, or China, or North Korea, or any number of other countries ruled by true sociopaths. Hell, just ask some of those countries what will happen when America's economy finally collapses and all those free food shipments stop.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.