Google in India? what do you guys think?

sde · 12-15-2003, 06:53 AM

The transfer of jobs to India has started to concern me lately, especially when I hear about a fairly local company, Google, opening up shop in India.

Could this be good? Is it for something other than monitary reasons as they claim? Would boycotting business who do this deter other business from doing the same?

What do you think?

Admin · 12-15-2003, 10:50 AM

I have read that the reason for shipping some jobs overseas is to keep coding/service going 24 hours a day. I don't believe that though, its cheaper to have work done in a third world county (check out the tag on your shoes, where were they made?). Hopefully something will change to slow (maybe stop) this process.

sde · 12-15-2003, 01:01 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech....ap/index.html

IBM is doing it too, .. 4,700 jobs.

bdl · 12-15-2003, 04:22 PM

I think it's just dynamite. Pretty soon all the jobs will be shipped out and the US will eventually deteriorate into a third world country. Yay! I'm tellin ya'll right now...the future is going to be the President of the U.S., a million robots and several million people living in squalor.

joe_bruin · 12-15-2003, 05:50 PM

it's called competition, and it's a *good* thing. it's the cornerstone of capitalism.
if a developer in india can do your job for 1/10 the pay, why the hell are we still paying you? if you think you deserve the job that's going to someone else (whether here or offshore), ask yourself: what am i doing to compete? if your answer is "whine because i'm an american and i deserve the job", start looking at a new career.

competition weeds out the weak. it's called attrition, and it benefits those of us who are strong. if you're not talented, perhaps it's time to consider another line of work. if your skillset has become marginalized, and you didn't upgrade your knowledge, you're weak. if you're a code monkey and easily replaceable, what value do you bring to justify your existance? if you're going to be graduating tomorrow with the skills of yesterday, sucks to be you.

if you got a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach reading that, congratulations, you're fuked. go whine about indian / chinese / romanian / whereever is cheaper replacements that are going to get your job.

if, on the other hand, you know you've got the skills, you'll be just fine. you wouldn't have been the code monkey anyway, right? the jobs that require the goods will be available to you, and at better pay (think of all the money your company is saving on not having to pay your retarded classmates).

this is the harsh reality, boys and girls. welcome to the working world.

sde · 12-16-2003, 06:50 AM

thanks for the welcome to this world joe

i can understand your argument, but competition as i understand it happens on a common field. we have the nba, and wnba, women's and men's sports all always split up.

i'm sure the cost of living in india is significantly less than it is anywhere in the u.s., so a 40k salary would go much further there than it would here.

i guess one could argue it's good for american business, but like nafta, it's good for the bigger companies, and not so good for the work force.

either way i suppose you're right; people who know their stuff will most likely not have to worry about jobs anyway.

Admin · 12-16-2003, 07:50 AM

what will happen to the US economy when there are tens of thousands of people out of work and not spending money? that is the only thing that _really_ worries me.

Valmont · 12-16-2003, 03:17 PM

Quote:

if you think you deserve the job that's going to someone else (whether here or offshore), ask yourself: what am i doing to compete?

It's about relative competition.
If everybody starts doing better in the west then the standards are going up. This means that only a few will be above the standard and once again many others will fail to keep their jobs.
Besides that, it's is not about quality. That the "BIG LIE". As if professional built programs are built by the highest possible standards. Yeah right. I've never ever encountered an employer who wishes to invest money in high standards. Way too expensive. It's all about the money.

So you say ask yourself: "what am I doing to compete?"
Then the answer is: "I compete with a low salary. Pay me equally or less than those guys in India (or whatever)"
That's the "BIG TRUTH". You want that perhaps? Like, we all getting poor? Because it is the only alternative. History showed us.

Finding a balance is good capitalism. Not $$.

And by the way. IF there is a lack of IT Pro's in the west, then the companies that are complaining are the ones to blame. No one and nothing else.

bdl · 12-17-2003, 09:46 AM

Have to disagree with ya, Joe. It's not called 'competition', it's called 'going with the lowest bidder'. I personally don't work in the IT industry, I just do it as a hobby, and I still think it stinks. I'm of the same opinion as `Admin` here; what happens when the better paying jobs are taken away from Americans and the economy dumps? Who's going to buy all the techno-goodies these companies are putting out?

BTW, isn't that the American dream to be better educated than your peers and hope to have a good paying job? Only then to see it ripped out from under you and sent to another country? What's the American dream then? Go even further in debt to become even better educated and then see that job taken away too?

iNaNimAtE · 02-13-2004, 10:27 PM

It would be impossible to compete with India or other 3rd world countries simply because the wages they make are not enough for us to sustain ourselves. However, what will happen is this: America ships all its jobs out overseas. Their economey flourishes, while ours diminshes because we have no exports. As their economy strengthens, the government and retailers realize that they can charge more for products because people can now afford them; the famous "price increase." Our housing prices and other amenities will decrease because we are turning into the next 3rd world country. Before you know it, the jobs that were once "overseas" will be shipped back to America because it is simply cheaper. Sound familiar? This "balance beam" will just keep swaying back and forth.

How to prevent our economy from going to scraps:
The retailers need to realize that these huge profit gaps are ruining American lifestyles. If people would stop being total narcissistic greedy a$$holes, and instead of trying to milk every penny out of products, and instead give a reasonable price, then it would be much cheaper to live in America. If it were cheaper, then people wouldn't need as much money for the same lifestyle; therefore companies would not have to pay workers as much.

The overall lesson: If people stop being greedy, (stop kidding yoursleves, it won't happen), and make a couple sacrafices, then everyone will benefit in the long run.

Belisarius · 02-20-2004, 09:36 AM

Wow, cool, I rarely get to discuss political philosophy on these boards

In an article called "Sugar Shaft", George Will discussed the recent closing of Fanny Farmer and Fanny Mae candies. This is due to the higher cost of sugar in the US versus the world market. The reason the cost is higher is because of sugar tarrifs designed to protect American sugar farmers. As a result of protecting American industries, we lost jobs.

We've seen massive job loss before as industries relocated. Textile and Automotive are key examples. But in the 90's no one noticed as new markets had opened up. Markets will shift, trying to protect jobs will only make the problem worse.