More on IT outsourcing - Gartner projects that business process outsourcing (BPO) in 2003 will increase 38% over last year, to $1.8B.
That might not sound like a lot, but the cited article doesn't tabulate the amount of revenue which would otherwise be spent in the U.S. if this work were performed here. Since the whole point of outsourcing is to save money, and given that the average IT worker in AsiaPac makes maybe a third or less of what his American counterpart earns for the same work, we're talking about some real money being shifted outside the U.S. economy.
One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the high-tech jobs in the U.S. - not just in Silicon Valley, but all across the country - are being filled with non-citizen immigrants here on H1-B visas. The reason for this phenomenon is twofold:
1. The H1-B visa-holders tend to work cheaper, though the savings isn't that great, and
2. The main reason - U.S. employers can't find enough literate, numerate citizens to handle the work.
So-called 'Human Resource' departments are part of the problem, too. They've become the self-appointed arbiters of corporate culture in America, much as the media/academic nexus fills the same role in the popular culture, and their values - multiculturalism and 'diversity' as stated corporate goals; globalization as a worthwhile endeavor in and of itself; racial hiring quotas in the form of affirmative action, etc. - are congruent, as well.
Lest they be considered reactionary, business leaders cede this territory to HR (how many of us still remember when they were just the plain old Personnel department?), with the net result being that outsourcing and other forms of shifting work overseas (the preferred term is 'offshore') cannot be criticized without the doubter being cast as 'insensitive', at the very least.
So, the upshot of all this is that more and more firms are thinking seriously about sending vital business functions overseas to be handled by the lowest bidder, and then taking action.
The treason of the HR reps aside, the root cause of this one-way migration is quite simple - Johnny may not be able to read, but Jawahar certainly can.
