Diary of a Network Geek

I’m going to say this even though someone will no doubt call me a racist in the comments.

Oh, don’t think it won’t happen, because it did once already the last time the job market got tough. Here’s the thing, at times like this, when the entire world’s economy is bad, I think American companies should put American citizens, and legal residents, first, and in that order. Let’s not send jobs overseas just now. And, let’s not import any more foreign guest workers. Look, I know plenty of people who came over on H1B visas and that’s all well and good, but everyone in IT knows that this system gets abused regularly as a way to undercut the local IT people and keep them from earning a living wage. We all know that it happens and I’m sure any tech out there can site multiple sources for it. So, when I see articles about how Indian IT groups are worried about the H1B reforms currently being debated, I can’t help but wonder why they think U.S companies should put their workers’ needs above U.S. workers’ needs. Shouldn’t we take care of our own? I sure remember growing up being taught that we take care of our own neighbors before we worry about people some where far, far away. We make sure that no one we can reach is going hungry before we start looking in other cities, states and countries for people who need our help, too. Things are tough all over, but they’re tough right here. So, let’s take care of that first, then worry about our distant neighbors on the other side of the world.

Does that make sense to anyone else? Or am I wrong here? Should India and China give us work for their countries? Should we do tech support for Mumbai?

And, I’m not just saying this out of some jingoistic, hyper-conservative, knee-jerk reaction to globalism, either.  I promise you.  There are a lot of reasons I’m against this, not just the high level of unemployment.  There are also a lot of abuses of this system.  In fact, there have been so many abuses of the H1B1 system in the high-tech industry that the Federal Government is investigating and prosecuting the case.  So, this whole trend of either importing foreign workers or sending work overseas just doesn’t cut it for me.  First, we need to take care of our own, then reach out to the tired, hungry and poor of other countries.

So, what do you all think?

No, not the traditional dangers.

Most outsourcing is done to countries other than our own. At the moment, the majority of our outsourcing goes to either India or the Pacific Rim. (For those of you who don’t follow this sort of thing, the Phillipines seem to be the next “hot” market, sucking away significant portions of India’s outsourcing revenue.) Sure, the prices are right and, depending on the type of outsourcing, the work might even be comprable to what you’d get in the States, but what about the other dangers? When was the last time we had a tsunami? And how long has it been since we had a major bombing here in the States? Now, I’m sure some of the people who stumble across this blog searching for information about outsourcing to India or the Phillipines or where have you will call me a racist. I’ve been called that before when I said I thought American companies should give American workers jobs before sending them offshore. But, I promise you, nothing could be further from the truth.

Still, I find myself remembering the mortgage company I worked for when I first came to Houston. We employed a small town in the rural United States to be our phone center. That job could have easily been sent offshore to an outsourcing company in Mumbai or New Dheli or Manila. But, it turns out that it was just as cost-effective to employ American workers. Also, we never had a complaint that our customers couldn’t understand our phone center workers. Now, keep in mind, I’m just being realistic here. Not everyone who speaks English as a second language has an impeniterable accent, nor is being a native speaker any guarantee, either. But, that little town was safe. No worries about things like tidal waves or bombings or coups or even hurricanes. Even blizzards didn’t stop them, though they did slow down a little the times they got hit with that. Still, they were safer from a disaster than we were in Houston and still enjoyed the comfort of knowing that the United States was a stable government who kept the peace in their own borders. Yes, we’ve had our share of tragedy, but, mainly, we’re a safe place to live and work. Safer than most of the world, really.

So, tell me again, how is this outsourcing, offshoring thing such a good deal?