Corporate America's Silent Partner: India

[Christopher Jungmann]

This is inevitable.  Technology is once again enabling a major shift.  In
the short-term this will affect salaries in the United States.  We will
eventually see a state of equilibrium though.  According to Harvard Business
Review "Relocating those funtions will help companies beat back the demands
of highly skilled professionals in the United States.  However, the tactic
may not work in the long run because multinationals and local companies will
compete for the best people in those talent markets, which will erode salary
differences."  That may take a few "Internet years".

Yes, short term there will be pain.  According to the same article "As the
talent class cashes in on the knowledge it creates, the knowledge-creation
process will become the battlefield."  Perhaps a bit out of context, but we
probably won't see a bloody battle like the one that occured outside of the
Dearborn, Michigan Ford plant in 1932.  However if the pain becomes great
enough, software engineers and others may start calling their elected
officials.

However, I don't think unionization will be a significant trend this time.  
Again, technology will enable companies to move their legal entities to more
favorable environments.  If my business is subject to unionization, then I
can better serve my customers with lower costs, and ultimately sharehoders,
by incorporating in China.  What service can I not provide over IP?  Then
let the government try to figure out how to place a tarrif on my IP packets.

Chris

>From: Owen Densmore <[hidden email]>
>Reply-To: The Friday Morning Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
>To: The Friday Morning Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
>Subject: [FRIAM] Corporate America's Silent Partner: India
>Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 09:26:57 -0700
>
>Yet another outsourcing article, but a bit better than the rest, I  think.  
>One point made was that the national discussions on this issue  will emerge
>in ernest after the next election.  By that time either the  jobs will be
>recovering in the US, or there will be considerable  objection to
>white-collar outsourcing.
>    http://www.businessweek.com/print/bwdaily/dnflash/dec2003/ 
>nf20031215_8942_db046.htm?gb
>
>..and naturally, the key question for us: how do we respond to  corporate
>research being outsourced to India and China?  Its a tough  question.  We
>are seeing more technology jobs hurt either by foreign  workers here
>willing to work for considerably less than american  engineers and
>scientists.  So the job drain goes both direction: jobs  going abroad, and
>workers being imported.
>
>I suspect there are natural solutions making this less troubling than  the
>shrill reporting would suggest, but I certainly haven't gotten my  brain
>around it.  Maybe we should outsource more management and even  CEO/CIO/CTO
>jobs?  I've always wondered why high-tech, and white collar  didn't
>unionize.
>
>Owen Densmore          908 Camino Santander       Santa Fe, NM 87505
>[hidden email]    Cell: 505-570-0168         Home: 505-988-3787
>AIM:owendensmore   http://complexityworkshop.com  http://backspaces.net
>
>
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