Another Blow For the Dellsnots 1137

I'm not prejudice towards cultures that provide outsourced services. Some of the most intelligent and dilligent people I know are from south Asian decent. What I'm against is the lack of labor laws overseas and the fact that a dollar an hour overseas will get these people a great deal more for their money than minimum wage in the states. Basically we've now seen that American labor laws will be bypbutted at every opportunity by corporations.

Where are all these corporate savings going? They go to the companies, then they go in the form of dividends to the investors, most of which are very wealthy individuals. The rich get richer, the poor who have no spare funds to invest simply get poorer as low-wage jobs go overseas to people who will work for even lower wages.

Of course, outsourcing has its limits. Some skills such as medical care, transportation and send on-site repair can't exactly be outsourced. Putting all your eggs in one basket can bite companies in the butt, as well. For example, when the monsoons arrived in India last July most American calling centers virtually ground to a halt, Dell's included. The langauge barrier became enormous as frustrated customers tried to understand the vague & obscure Texas call-center dialect ;)

In addition, outsourcing some fields like R&D can bite a company in the butt; after all, theres no corporate espionage laws keeping overseas researchers from utilizing company resources, then selling their findings to the highest bidders (ie compebreastors) on the black market for thousands (millions?) of dollars. Corporate espionage can (and does) run rampant, as the pharmaceutical industry can attest.

Bottom line? Get the education, get the high paying jobs...cuz the low-paying jobs won't be around for long.

Dan