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CM Journal Articles HR Corner: Staying OnShore When the Jobs are Headed OffShore!
CM Journal Articles HR Corner: Staying OnShore When the Jobs are Headed OffShore!
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Feedback from last month’s article, “Oh no, I’ve been OffShored!” was pretty intense. I never dreamed that I could actually get mail from irate readers who were absolutely angry with me for seeing anything positive in an effort that some people say will result in a lower standard of living for many Americans. Years ago I syndicated a NYC Radio Show called “Stigma,” which discussed the challenges of being blind and disabled. I used a white cane, Talking Books and Braille back then. I often said that “we all have handicaps, it’s just that some are more noticeable” and then I would verbally attack sighted and able-bodied people for lacking the determination and courage of a person with a significant handicap. For exercise I practiced Karate even though I couldn’t see my opponent visually. I still think like a blind person and I am certainly not going to take being OffShored without putting up a fight. Read on if you’ve got what it takes to overcome some obstacles. HR Corner and it’s Goals… I don’t really see the point of writing an article that is just intended to complain. Most of what I write (and say!) is intended to bring about change. The most important change is giving technology professionals information that can help them do their job better and empower them to be more effective. I like to focus on what I can change. Years ago I worked at the American Foundation for the Blind in NYC. I often found myself receiving calls from people who had recently become blind. I admit that we often spent a few minutes discussing the pain of dealing with blindness. But frankly the conversation would always move quickly in the direction of what we had the power and ability to make better. Having grown up without the ability to really care about the color of someone’s skin I found myself being very biased against sighted people! But the truth is that we all did mourn. I hated the fact that I couldn’t do “normal” things like play baseball. Kids can be cruel and I was often the brunt of some schoolyard bullies’ pranks. I know deep down I still bare those scars. I don’t like being negative, but healing does require an honest look at the real problems. The “Problem” With OffShore... There is lot that is wrong with the OffShore movement today. The most serious problem is a focus on short term results instead of long term consequences. In many companies today there is little or no loyalty because employees feel Management seems to be continuously mired in short term thinking. It certainly is no surprise that many workers simply don’t trust their management to be fair and honest. This view was evident in several of the emails that I received over the last few weeks. Leonard sent in the following note… The point is that if off-shoring was a gradual (15-30 year process) that was well planned & thought out perhaps the costs in the local marketplace would reflect the reduced wages of the local (American) worker. Supply & demand at work. However, off-shoring is not gradual. It is accelerating & snowballing at an increasing rate. In less than five years, the bulk of the American middle class could disappear due to reduced wages, lost jobs, etc. Another colleague sent in the following point… The problem with off-shoring is that the business leaders still pay themselves American wages while their staff get Indian wages (to use your example). Where's the fairness and community spirit in that? No one is surprised that Senior Management wants a bigger bonus by reducing the cost of doing their work. But frankly I think that many companies are loosing the loyalty of their highly trained staff, which is something that is subtle and hard to quantify. Long term these decisions may cost many companies a great deal. It certainly would be good to see Senior Management held accountable for the long term effect of their actions. All too often management makes decisions that show short term results on paper, but are unlikely to show long term positive results. As many help desk and customer service functions are OffShored, it remains to be seen how quality will be impacted. Putting a call center in India might work and then again it may not. One thing is certain is that companies are doing everything possible to hide (from their customers) the location of their call centers. The next time that you are calling a Help Desk or Customer Service hotline ask them for their location. I used to love hearing about the weather in North Carolina . Today they usually respond that they are not allowed to tell me. Please drop me a line and let me know what you think is right or wrong with OffShoring! Are We OffShoring Our Future? Another interesting concern is how many smart graduate students will shift away from the technology fields now that these jobs seem to be loosing their allure. My father-in-law used to always bemoan the fact that many lawyers get paid more than engineers. Engineers provide very tangible value to society and we certainly want our best and brightest to be among tomorrow’s engineers. Will the devaluation of the technology jobs mean that we will not have the technology professionals that we need in the years to come? It is unlikely that the answer is that they will just come from another country. Our diversity is part of why the field of technology is open to new ideas and values. Some people suggest that America may become a third rate Country if this trend continues. Motivation OffShore… Now if you are reading this article from Chennai or any of the many other “hot” OffShore centers you probably have a different perspective. The globalization of IT means that thousands of professionals can win jobs in Countries that are greatly in need of improving their own local economies. This didn’t happen by accident. Many countries have tried hard to make higher education (especially technology based) available to the best and brightest of their society. Their intent is to improve their own standard of living and the economy of their country. Hmm… actually we aren’t really all that different are we? The Enemy Within… This week’s NY newspapers were also filled with articles about the decisions of educators to make it easier for students to graduate with LESS education (e.g. lower regents standards). One State actually passed a law to make it easier for students to skip the last year of High School. A careful reading of the Teacher’s Union rules in NYC Schools would lead one to think that educators are being protected so that they cannot be required to teach effectively. When I teach my students get to rate my effectiveness. They are essentially my customers and I admit I love the positive feedback as well as the occasional suggested improvement. While I am not suggesting that teaching in a corporation is the same as teaching in a NYC school, I do believe that need to realize that we are sadly heading in the wrong direction. Education is Key… If we are to compete in the global job market we need to put education and higher educational standards back in the place where they belong. A quality education means that students can look forward to earning a living in an honest profession without having to sacrifice moral values for fear of loosing their job. It seems that many foreign countries have recognized the importance of education. Recently, a young person mentioned to me that his high school might be loosing their Computer Science teacher. I am not exactly swimming in free time, but I did put in a call to the principal and let him know that I would fill in temporally to make sure that the kids did not miss out on their computer science class. Getting involved could actually help many technology professionals develop their soft (people) skills and would certainly help our next generation to appreciate the technology field. Upward Bound… I still remember teaching math to high schools students who had flunked because they didn’t show up for class. The program was called Upward Bound and was hosted at Hofstra University . It was really fun to see them achieve and learn the material that many had previously failed. Next Steps… OffShore is obviously not going to just go away. In the years to come the physical location of the worker is going to become less and less relevant. Technology Professionals will need to develop better soft skills in facilitating and managing projects. We need to learn from our colleagues in other disciplines who have focused more on negotiating and interpersonal communications. We also need to raise the bar on our educational standards. I don’t think that this will be as tough as overcoming blindness, but we are certainly in for some difficult and challenging years. There is valid concern that OffShore may very well impact the standard of living for many people. It will also allow others to earn their way. We may learn a lesson here about the importance of meeting tough challenges. Are we up for this? You bet we are! Bob Aiello is a Senior Editor for Crossroads News and an Associate Director at a major financial services firm in NYC, where he has company wide responsibility for Software Configuration and Release Management best practices. Bob is on the Steering Committee of the NYC Software Process Improvement Network (CitySPIN), where he is also the chair of the CM SIG which meets in Midtown NYC. Mr. Aiello has a Masters in Industrial Psychology from NYU and a BS in Computer Science from Hofstra. You can reach Mr. Aiello by email at raiello@acm.org
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| Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 January 2006 05:31 |
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