The New York Times on outsourcing. Yeah I keep coming back to this topic but it’s definitely one of those things I feel strongly about. Here are some obligatory quotes:
MR. JOHNSON It’s all about innovation and productivity. As long as we maintain those two engines, we’ll continue to have a very high standard of living. Out in the Bay Area there are plenty of folks who would love to create a little bit of protectionism around their I.T. jobs, but we are far better off letting a lot of those jobs go. Low-skill jobs like coding are moving offshore and what’s left in their place are more advanced project management jobs.
MR. ROACH China for all practical purposes has an infinite supply of labor: 400 million in its urban population and another 900 million in the rural area. The average wage of a Chinese worker is still 2.5 to 3 percent of the counterpart in the developed world. Those are disparities that will be around for a long time.
I love these quotes by a roundtable of analysts, researchers, and economists. First off here are some radical thoughts. If China starts gaining a large middle class enjoying all of their benefits while there is a huge poor population oppressed and the government loosens up. Might get another revolution again. Whee.
Second, is I love how they refer to project management as a ‘higher’ level job than a coder. Yes, coding is rather low level but those coders are what become the shining stars of tomorrow. You’ve just cut off the path to gaining that experience. I’m sorry school doesn’t cut it here. There’s lots of things outside of the scope of academia that at necessary to learn.
Third, these analysts always give ‘it’s due to this model’ crap or another. I have a nice idea to get them riled up. Why don’t we outsource these people? Their skills aren’t exactly THAT special. Hell, I can make an economic forecast if I spent a couple of hours reading some of the ‘relevant’ documents as well as these people. What’s so special about their positions? Seriously. Anyone with a college education can do that job why pay these people the sums that they get for an ‘analysis’. Heck, there’s even A.I. programs that can do simple predictions as well and they cost a bit less.
