Outsourcing is Good
The Indian Perspective
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Here in India we are riding on the high wave of the outsourcing boom.
And yes, there certainly does seem to be a boom. I was in Bangalore a year back before relocating to Bombay.
I used to pay Indian Rs. 7000 per month ( USD 155) for a 2 bedroom apartment and last month when I visited bangalore the rents for such an apartment was touching IR 9000 (USD 200). When I asked why, the estate agent said that a lot more people in bangalore were making more money because a lot of US( and British as well, english language seems to be the key) jobs were flowing in there.
So more people, fresh out of college were landing jobs not just writing middle/high end software but also workingin call centres doing ticket reservations for British Airwys and pursuing credit card payment defaulters in Milwaukee all sitting down in Bangalore.
What did I notice about these youngsters? Let me make a list:
1.) Most have basic college degrees. This puts them at an advantage compared to the run of the mill call centre agent in the US who would most probably have dropped out of high school. At least that's the idea I get from news articles highlighting this mismatch.
2.) They have money to splurge. An average call centre agent makes about USD 200 a month. Their fathers would be making the same. An engineer doing high end coding could make about USD 1000.
The same engineer in the US would make about USD 4000. This is where US corporations save money. Of course, at the cost of American engineers who are laid off!!
3.) Now these youngsters are extremely independent. Earlier it was unheard of that people who were 19 - 21 were staying seperate from their parents. Now many of them are on their own and the traditional family cohesive structure may be breaking down. Today a young girl could just walk out of the house knowing fuilly well that she will do well anyway.
4.) Of course welcome pizza hut, Levis, KFC, Coke and yes sexual liberation.
5.) American accents. Most of these call cantre agents will put on Western accents while speaking to their customers. But out of the office many still cling to it, and believe me, that's irritating to my ears. Listening to someone who till yesterday did not know a vowel from a consonant(and still don't) speaking like Prince Charles gets on my nerves.
Yes, much of this boom is still limited to the bigger cities like bangalore, madras, delhi and bombay but it seems to be percolating down too to smaller places where rents and wage bills are lesser.
But this is where I think the Eastern (indian, jewish, chinese) cultural importance given to education has paid off. Indian families would never tolerate that their kids drop off from college and would often push education down their throat. But I guess in the west(more so in the US) kids had their own way.
So when you have a better educated guy who demands less wages asking you for a job, who will not give it to him?
So for every 1 american engineer losing his job 3 are created here in India.
In short, a lot of people down here are having a good time.
And yes, there certainly does seem to be a boom. I was in Bangalore a year back before relocating to Bombay.
I used to pay Indian Rs. 7000 per month ( USD 155) for a 2 bedroom apartment and last month when I visited bangalore the rents for such an apartment was touching IR 9000 (USD 200). When I asked why, the estate agent said that a lot more people in bangalore were making more money because a lot of US( and British as well, english language seems to be the key) jobs were flowing in there.
So more people, fresh out of college were landing jobs not just writing middle/high end software but also workingin call centres doing ticket reservations for British Airwys and pursuing credit card payment defaulters in Milwaukee all sitting down in Bangalore.
What did I notice about these youngsters? Let me make a list:
1.) Most have basic college degrees. This puts them at an advantage compared to the run of the mill call centre agent in the US who would most probably have dropped out of high school. At least that's the idea I get from news articles highlighting this mismatch.
2.) They have money to splurge. An average call centre agent makes about USD 200 a month. Their fathers would be making the same. An engineer doing high end coding could make about USD 1000.
The same engineer in the US would make about USD 4000. This is where US corporations save money. Of course, at the cost of American engineers who are laid off!!
3.) Now these youngsters are extremely independent. Earlier it was unheard of that people who were 19 - 21 were staying seperate from their parents. Now many of them are on their own and the traditional family cohesive structure may be breaking down. Today a young girl could just walk out of the house knowing fuilly well that she will do well anyway.
4.) Of course welcome pizza hut, Levis, KFC, Coke and yes sexual liberation.
5.) American accents. Most of these call cantre agents will put on Western accents while speaking to their customers. But out of the office many still cling to it, and believe me, that's irritating to my ears. Listening to someone who till yesterday did not know a vowel from a consonant(and still don't) speaking like Prince Charles gets on my nerves.
Yes, much of this boom is still limited to the bigger cities like bangalore, madras, delhi and bombay but it seems to be percolating down too to smaller places where rents and wage bills are lesser.
But this is where I think the Eastern (indian, jewish, chinese) cultural importance given to education has paid off. Indian families would never tolerate that their kids drop off from college and would often push education down their throat. But I guess in the west(more so in the US) kids had their own way.
So when you have a better educated guy who demands less wages asking you for a job, who will not give it to him?
So for every 1 american engineer losing his job 3 are created here in India.
In short, a lot of people down here are having a good time.
