American jobs outsourced to India – The reality and the myth

by Brijesh Chauhan on September 28, 2009 · 12 comments

A few days back, one of my friends suggested me to watch the movie Outsourced. I watched it and liked it (liked it should be read in comparison to “loved it”). The movie was based on outsourcing American jobs to India. An American telemarketing manager lost his job in US and he was given a choice of going to India and train people there or just let go his current job.

Yesterday, I came across this great reality TV series 30 days about outsourcing. Chris Jobin, 37, a computer programmer from New York is laid off from his job. He came to know that his job has been outsourced to India. He decides to go to India and live there 30 days to find his job but he couldn’t (he’d need “Indian experience,” he’s told). He ends up working as a telemarketer in a call center.

The most interesting part about this social experiment was how Chris’ mind changed over these 30 days.

When initially he heard that he got laid off and his job has been outsourced to Bangalore-India, he was very frustrated and angry on the Indians who were getting his job. Well, that’s a natural human behavior, anyone would have reacted the same. Chris thought that the only reason the jobs were getting outsourced was because of the cheap labor. His father argued about this at dinner and said “I think it’s a good thing. I think it’s going to create a growth market and a place to sell American products and services. If companies don’t take advantage of cheaper labor resources, then they become less competitive, they disappear, and the jobs disappear with them.”

While working in India for 30 days, he saw how Indian economy was catching up, how India was exactly the same as 1980’s US. He was amazed to see that 16 people were being fed by his single job outsourcing. This completely changed his mind. He realized that people who were doing his job were not even aware of the job losses in US. And it was wrong to get angry on these people, it’s not their fault. The people who decide to outsource American jobs are the billionaire executives, VPs and CEOs.

Well you wouldn’t get the complete picture unless you see this episode yourself. Here it is.

Tagged as: 30 days, american job, american job outsourcing, bangalore, cheap labor, Chris Jobin, h1, india, india call center, labor, laid off, lay off, outsourcing, resturcturing

Bons

Hey,

I didnt get this point.
“He was amazed to see that 16 people were being fed by his single job outsourcing.”
You mean to say Indian People are 16 times less productive than american do.

Bons
http://NA Prashant Patel

Shu video 6 boss…
I am totally impressed.
Simply awesome…
Brijesh

@ Bons

What I meant was 1 American person’s salary = 16 Indian people’s salary. American (Chris in this case) earned 16 times that of his competitive Indian fellow.

But thinking more about this point, actually Chris and I are wrong. He is not feeding 16 people. Infact, his job is replaced by only one Indian guy, and that Indian guy is making 1/16 of what Chris was making. The rest 15/16 part of the salary is saved by the company.
Brijesh

@ Prashant
Thanks buddy.
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send me a invitation please, Thanks.

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mwSGg
Samir

Awesome work. Really liked this one.

Brijesh

Thanks Samir.

brijesh singh

I must tell you,there is one more side of “Outsourcing Ghost”. If you see business expansion of american companies in last 15 years, you will realize that america do not have “enough people” to support it!
It is not possible for these companies to compete with companies from developing nations if they do not out source their jobs. African and Asian market run in small profits. Though this is not very lucrative market, they have to establish presence in these market before it is lost.
For example, i-flex(indian company once) captured most of the african and European market.It is impossible for an american company to compete in turns of cost.
I must add this: “Though present India believes that outsourcing is a good thing to India, it is not very true. In absence of outsourcing, these Indian companies would have been working on higher profit”.
No body does a social service. It’s business and they are here for Only Profit!
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Brijesh

@Brijesh Singh,
I agree with you, no one is here for social service. But outsourcing is a win-win situation for both, the outsourcing company and the people who are getting jobs. They both benefit from it. But many people get upset because they are getting laid off and someone else is doing their job now. From where I see, there is no reason why they should get pissed. The company has to do what it takes for maximum profit, it doesn’t bias toward nationality or keeping jobs to its home country. The unemployment issue is to be addressed by government or the individual, neither the company nor the people who are getting these jobs are responsible for their job loss.

I don’t want to offend anyone, or I don’t want to be rude. I am just trying to make an argument here. I hope you agree with it.

Grob Hahn

” From where I see, there is no reason why they should get pissed. The company has to do what it takes for maximum profit, it doesn’t bias toward nationality or keeping jobs to its home country.”

Thanks for pointing out the sheer arrogance of the issue. You have captured the very point of it all. The companies only care about making money so they don’t care a bit about the destruction they leave in their wake. One of the things that made America strong as a nation was the sense of corporate responsibility and of being a corporate community citizen and being involved with community advancement. As you point out, those days are gone and corporate loyalty exists only for the cheapest resources and the wealthiest clients. The rest is scorched earth. With so much wealth being siphoned from the US it is only a matter of time before the engine begins to falter. You can’t depend on an American economy that doesn’t support and advance Americans as well as the rest of the world. It will come tumbling down like a house of cards.

So be aware that for all the value you think you have with these corporations, you may still end up as so many Americans have, forced to train their foreign replacements or forfeit their final pay. If it happened to us, it will likely happen to you as well. Americans aren’t pissed at you, they are pissed at the betrayal you represent. You are no better than scabs crossing a picket line, so don’t be shocked at the lack of respect you experience. I seriously doubt you will be feeling any different when you are training your Chinese replacement!
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