Re: [SLUG-POL] RE: [SLUG] I.B.M. Explores Shift of White-Collar Jobs Overseas (even more lengthy)

From: John Pedersen (john@jmp-systems.com)
Date: Thu Jul 24 2003 - 12:16:37 EDT


>>We can only hope that the companies eventually catch on that those
>>cheapo programmers take 3 times longer to complete a job, and then it is
>>sub standard.

I have no way of knowing if this is a true statement. However, even
it it's true
today, do we expect it to remain so?

If so, aren't we assuming that offshore programmers are genetically unable
to "catch up", or that "language" will be a permanent obstacle, or
something
like that? I can't quite subscribe to that--I think it's more likely
that offshore
programmers will be a viable threat, and ever more so, as time goes by.

I think the REAL reason that offshore labor (inc programming) is a
threat is
simply the much lower standard of living. As long as you can find
labor at,
say, five percent of USA rates, you won't see this problem go away.

The traditional answer is that "As we help them build up their
infrastructure
and their standard of living, we will all be roughly equivalent".

The trouble is, the people who are giving us this "answer" are the same
people who are making gazillions of dollars selling infrastructure to our
competitors.

I think of it this way: You have a bathtub with a quarter inch of
water in
it. You also have a bucket, which is full (say, a nice 12 inches depth of
water).

Now we are going to pour water from the bucket to the bathtub, to
get equality. Hmmmm, looks like we get equality at about the time
that the bucket has one inch of water in it.

Draw your own conclusions.

John



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