Tue, 22 Jul 2003
Big Blue Sends Tech Jobs Afar
Many would think of IBM as being as quintessentially American as apple pie. Think again.
One thing that the article fails to mention is that software companies must address the commoditization of software via open source. Open source is an inherently global undertaking with virtually zero engineering costs. Moving technology jobs overseas will likely help IBM compete with other products having high dollar engineering costs, and co-opting the products doesn't hurt, but in the end, it's probably a losing battle. It begs the question of whether technology companies will demand more or less H1B visas in light of this offshoring.
One thing's for certain, if you're a US citizen looking for a technology job now, your chances of finding one, without creating it yourself, are going down by the day. You'd probably get farther selling oil filters at a parts counter. That's what a lot of those displaced steel workers are doing since the stunning machine of globalization flattened their industry twenty years ago.
Taken another way, if your goal was to terrorize the US and you have lots of money - that's easy. Fund international companies targeting vertical markets in the US whose sole purpose is to offshore the jobs within that vertical. Why stop with the technology industry? Why not do the same thing to healthcare, finance, etc. When you've mastered the five top verticals, set your sights on offshoring the US government. Service levels may actually improve.
Oh well, there's always Canada.
Posted at: 11:09 | permalink
