Where have all the jobs (and money) gone?
[The irony, oh the irony… I’m going to forward this on to JimsJobs, I’m sure it will provoke quite a few reactions. -Thomas]
‘Offshoring’ Trend Casting a Wider Net
The outsourcing movement is defying conventional wisdom about what
positions are immune from export
By Marla Dickerson
Times Staff Writer
January 4, 2004
Recent economic data show the technology sector is perking up, with U.S.
firms posting their first profits in years. Vicki Nelson wishes she could
say the same of her finances.
The Sacramento-area software engineer has drained her daughter’s college
fund and sold off furniture to pay bills since she was sacked in 2001.
Still unemployed, she doubts her fortunes will rebound along with those of
high-tech companies, which through the years dumped tens of thousands of
U.S. workers in favor of cheaper hands overseas.
“The jobs have gone to Bangalore,” said Nelson, 46, speaking of the city in
south India hailed as the new Silicon Valley. American companies “are
selling us out to save a couple of bucks. I’m worried about the future of
our economy.”
[…]
Retailers, banks, airlines, hotels and hospitals are sending work offshore,
from back-office accounting to front-desk customer service. Ditto for
government agencies. Today, a laid-off Californian with questions about
food stamps can get answers from a telephone hot line staffed in part by
workers in India. The state of California two years ago outsourced the
delivery of some welfare benefits to Citicorp Electronic Financial Services
Inc., which uses English-speaking workers in Bangalore and Pune to assist
the down-and-out in Bakersfield and Pacoima.
[…]
When adjusted for inflation, personal income in California plunged 3.4%
from January 2001 through July 2003, compared with a decline of 0.1%
nationwide, according to estimates from the state Department of Finance. By
its count, no other state did worse. [no kidding! -Ed.]
[…]
