Emmo wrote:

We just didn't know what the consequences were going to be...

Back in 1982, when I got out of business school as a newly minted MBA, it
was very clear to me that making textiles and shoes in lower cost countries
was the right thing to do for all kinds of reasons. Now, 23 years later,
having spent all that time in the software industry, I have fallen victim to
the same process.

I have been out of work for nearly two years. The software industry is
virtually dead in this country, unless you work for Microsoft. Just spoke
with a partner in a law firm that has started sending all of their
para-legal work to India as well. Tax returns are being processed there,
and insurance forms. I recently posted what to me is an amazing fact - there
are more English speakers in India than there are in the U.S., and many of
them are quite skilled in coding, tax, and legal work. There is a zero
incremental communications cost, and the time difference actually adds to
efficiencies, as the work is being done while we are sleeping, i.e. a day
faster than it could be done in the U.S., never mind the incredible cost
savings.

I am stuck. I have spent most of my savings from the good years, I am in
the process of selling my house, and I am searching for something else to do
for the next 16 years, (I am 51), until I can collect all that Social
Security that is waiting for me ha!...

I am a smart guy, but I see no way out for myself, nor for the country as a
whole... We are the next England... I certainly don't see any role for the
government in changing any of this, other than making things worse...



Move to India? Learn how to manage those Indian groups from here?

Here are some pieces of anecdotal evidence that may brighten your day:

1. A manager friend of mine told me about a year ago that prices for
Indian contract software help has gone up three- or four-fold in the
last five years. Not only that, but nobody over their gives raises so
the price increases are all going to people moving from one company to
another, which means that you can't retain the people on one project for
any length of time.

2. I've had to maintain Indian code and it _stinks_. I don't know how
representative it was of the overall scene, but it had "Job shop"
written all over it; it was obviously written to be thrown away, not
maintained for the long run.

3. Executives in the electronics industry are complaining about the
loss of control over quality and their supply chain that comes from
outsourcing (duh).

I think all of this is going to cause a rebound away from India. I
don't think things will _ever_ go back to the way they were, but I don't
think all the jobs are going to disappear, either.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com