I can understand that as an american worker you are pissed off when your job gets offshored, but on the other hand, why should an American and not an Indian get the job, when he's willing to do it for less money and the country is able to educate him just as well to do it?
Now I'm aware that's quite provocative and it's just an idea: Perhaps it's not the jobs that are in the wrong country, but the people.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The idea that U.S. commerce will forever be faithful to America is in need of discussion.
History has shown clearly the impact of the shifting fates of commerce and effects both good, and bad.
Similar to water, capitalist commerce methods dictate that profit flows to where it benefits best.
In this case, pressure for profit will continue to erode America's hold upon the control centers of our own corparations.
Past governmental decisions concerning just such a senario have assured the Owners and CEOs that quiet subjugation of our soverenity will continue with out challenge by the official system and authorities within their influence.
Local America may well decide differently.
Finally, the notion that our Leaders in Business will always put America first is inaccurate, the few stories of American Heros are overwhelmed by the need for a twenty-four hour economy lurking just beyond the Statue of Liberty...;>

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Honestly, the crime of treason should include any economic activity that brings dishonor, shame or harm to America the Nation as a whole. Unlike much of the rest of us here in the US, the world sees us through the actions of our corporations and their rapacious predation. When you factor in the often violent union-busting, anti-labor and anti-worker rights campaigns abroad bankrolled by these corporate thugs, the corruption of governments both here and abroad by US-in-name-only corporations (since many have 'offshored' their operations to dodge the US IRS), small wonder much the world thinks of us as nothing more than a nation of bullies and thieves.

The biggest fear of these scions of greed is poverty. Economic treason should result in the worst penalty of all - the perpetrators should be sentenced to a life of abject poverty - just like their greed does to innocent people both here and abroad. Commerce without honor is THEFT - it that simple.

This is precisely what outsourcing is doing to this very day. Each displaced American usually winds up using an array of assistance such as food stamps, unemployment and Medicaid – funded by taxpayers. Those that do find other work usually wind up making considerably less than they did before their job was outsourced. My own daughter is in IT, and her job was outsourced, and she has struggled trying to find enough temp work to survive since. She went to school and trained for IT as a career that she could count on to provide a good life and played by the rules – in the end, she was screwed by an economic traitor. She didn't deserve this.

A business license or corporate charter is NOT an exemption from fealty toward the nation that allows you such. Either be loyal to your nation or declare yourself the traitor you are. It's that simple, and it's time we required fealty from our businesses or start grabbing their profits and assets when they don't get the picture. Believe me, a few guys like Ebbers, or Lay chained to grocery carts in Crack Alley trying to live on the welfare programs they helped butcher would be fitting punishment - and one Hell of an object lesson to corporate traitors.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Whats the big deal about outsourcing these jobs, its called free enterprise and capitalism, sounds like some of these complaining americans could be commies, crying that they dont like free enterprise. Waaa suck it up, get used to it.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Ahhh, maybe not. I deal with the techies in Bangalore regularly. 99% of the time I get canned answers selected from a pulldown list which rarely have anything to do with the question I am asking. The responses from different tech (names) all follow the exact same patterns. There is also very little recognition, much less understanding, of domestic-US general and tech slang.

My favorite is when I tell them I can't do it over the phone because I'm too deaf, and they give me a number to call. Scout's honor!

This whole business isn't about offshoring customer support. It's about offshoring the denial of customer support. You've all seen the cutesy "messages" from companies, announcing what amounts to a reduction in service as "to better serve...." Sooner or later, we'll start hearing: "To better serve our customers, we no longer offer Customer Service."

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

My feeling on the issue is this: You need competent people
to provide call-center support, not phone cells halfway around the world working off of scripts. My unfortunate experience attempting to get phone support from Dell, I think it was, turned out to be pretty disappointing. As I have rid myself of all credit cards, I could care less where they have their call centers, but in the day and age when large-scale identity theft
is all the rage, the question should be raised as to whether
outsourcing all this kind of info around the world is sound corporate policy. Cost-conscious CEO's that pull this kind
of change and then 'award' themselves multi-million dollar
raises should, in my view, be sent to some kind of corporate
ethics reform school, so they can 'get in touch' with the
grass-roots of the economic miracle that put them where they are today.

Our economy is based on the successful operation of businesses within the united states, as well as conducting commerce with other countries. NAFTA aside, border-lines still are significant in the 21st century, and blithely ignoring them
for the sake of globalization might not be the wisest of choices.

Further, a better appreciation might be had of the situation
if, for example, a major indian corporation were to outsource its' customer support to say, the ukraine, or even china,
only to realize they had opened themselves up to many many problems, data security not the least among them. I for one,
certainly would not feel comfortable knowing that someone
in Bangladesh had free and open access to my personal information, I would much rather be ripped off by someone much closer to home LOL.

Lastly, union shills bent on 'keeping jobs at home' are typically
the main obstacles to the effective implementation of modern
advances in automation and software. It's hard to imagine that
you need any 'call centers' in the day of the World Wide Web. I typically avoid making support center telephone calls simply for the time penalty involved. Most questions that a human can answer can be satisfied by referencing the web, and much more rapidly. I say 'put call centers for indian companies in india, put call centers for american companies in america'...they'll all be replaced by computers anyway.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

If you're going to call the AFL-CIO's international department, you better do it quickly: the department has just been dissolved, and its staffers notified that they are part of the 167 workers being shown the door.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]