Prepare for long term unemployment in IT.

[Usually Curious]

All politics aside, prepare for long-term unemployment. The almighty dollar to be earned will always trump the needs of Americans.

I watched a really interesting episode of 30 Days on outsourcing. A guy whose job was outsourced to India went to India and spent 30 Days working in an outsourced job. At the end of it he was almost glad. He said that if it took his job to raise the standard of living in India then it was worth it to keep one Indian family out of complete and utter destitution. The whole financial situation right now - globally - just stinks.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/...00202#comments
U.S. To Train 3,000 Offshore IT Workers

Federally-backed program aims to help outsourcers in South Asia become more fluent in areas like Java programming—and the English language.

a federal agency ... has launched a $36 million program to train workers, including 3,000 specialists in IT and related functions, in South Asia.

Following their training, the tech workers will be placed with outsourcing vendors in the region that provide offshore IT and business services to American companies looking to take advantage of the Asian subcontinent's low labor costs.

By the way, this is not a political source. It is a business technology site.

[Juvysen]

IBM is apparently moving a bunch of jobs to India, too...

[Hannah32]

Yeah, it's not just in IT either. I really think the average family should just become accustomed to living on one income. We're already there. I am a teacher, have a decent wage and my hubby chips in with his underemployment job. That's what we have and it will probably stay that way.

You just have to embrace frugality and lower your standard of living.

[Usually Curious]

Originally Posted by Hannah32

Yeah, it's not just in IT either. I really think the average family should just become accustomed to living on one income. We're already there. I am a teacher, have a decent wage and my hubby chips in with his underemployment job. That's what we have and it will probably stay that way.

You just have to embrace frugality and lower your standard of living.

With the biflation we will be experiencing I think we will definitely have to get used to a lower standard of living. Necessary items will rise in price and luxuy items will drop in price. We are truly in a financial climate where the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.

[sweetjasmine]

Originally Posted by Usually Curious

With the biflation we will be experiencing I think we will definitely have to get used to a lower standard of living. Necessary items will rise in price and luxuy items will drop in price. We are truly in a financial climate where the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.

And the middle class disappears.

[VisionaryMom]

DH is in IT & they've actually started to see jobs come back from India, which has been a minority theory for a while. In his particular area, there are cultural barriers that just didn't make the process feasible. FIL's company also pulled some contracts because of the difficulty - and ultimately expense - of coordinating work on opposite sides of the world. Now I don't personally (and I'm not an expert in this area) think that's going to be likely with your run-of-the-mill tech support and basic programming jobs, but for cutting-edge skills, I don't think the situation is quite so dire.

[MyTwoAs]

Originally Posted by VisionaryMom

DH is in IT & they've actually started to see jobs come back from India, which has been a minority theory for a while. In his particular area, there are cultural barriers that just didn't make the process feasible. FIL's company also pulled some contracts because of the difficulty - and ultimately expense - of coordinating work on opposite sides of the world. Now I don't personally (and I'm not an expert in this area) think that's going to be likely with your run-of-the-mill tech support and basic programming jobs, but for cutting-edge skills, I don't think the situation is quite so dire.

My husband is also in IT (and I was prior to having children) and he's in a customer-facing IT role and so we've been blessed with some amazing growth. He's been in the industry for 15 years and his income has doubled in the last 4. He works for a company that operates with no debt and while the company has tens of thousands of employees worldwide, his job is not something that can be outsourced.

On the other hand, I started out doing phone tech support, got moved to an internal help desk, and then ended my IT career as a network administrator. My type of work was ripe for outsourcing but I was out of the industry before outsourcing became so prominent. At the time I was in it, there were more H1B Visa applicants coming in to do coding, etc than jobs being sent offshore. That trend has reversed a bit, though.

One good thing about the IT industry is there is almost always room for growth. If you start out as a tech support person, work on your skills, certs, professional education etc and start working your way up to a position that isn't going to be outsourced. This may not be easy for programmers and coders that require little if no customer interaction but the IT industry is still promising for many.

[velochic]

It may not be a political site, but it's certainly a political assessment, IMO.

Seriously? 3,000 impoverished people in Asia are getting some training to perhaps get a leg up and we're supposed to expect IT opportunities in the US to dry up? Sorry, I don't buy it.

Dh is a university professor of computer science. We were talking a while back and he was saying that enrollment is up (as it usually is during a recession) and that both his undergrad and graduate students are getting hired. We we talking about the IT industry as compared to others in regards to how they are impacted by economic shifts, both minor and major. Before quitting to become a SAHM, I was a programmer/analyst so I kind of follow the industry that way, as well. IT does not seem to be as negatively affected by the recession, and certainly IT *professionals* are, in general, doing better than other professions (I'm not talking about non-degreed IT jobs).

I think the article is a matter of opinion and poking at the Obama administration, not a true evaluation of a trend that encompasses over 3 million people. Certainly not enough to make a blanket statement that if you're in IT, to plan on long-term unemployment.

[Ola_]

I think it really depends on the area - some jobs will always be in demand and are not easy to outsource. For example my company currently has clients in Iran, Europe, and China and they are paying us (Canada/US company) for our services.

[Thystle]

This is not new news. Outsourcing has been going on for sometime now.



As someone deeply entrenched in the IT industry... more people have and will lose their jobs than will ever have room to grow or get them back.

[Usually Curious]

Originally Posted by Thystle

This is not new news. Outsourcing has been going on for sometime now.



As someone deeply entrenched in the IT industry... more people have and will lose their jobs than will ever have room to grow or get them back.

This is also what I believe.

When my dh worked in IT his company outsourced to India and brought all the work back w/in the year because of the poor quality of work but this is not the case with most companies.