Lost Your Job Yet?

Computerworld ^ | April 12, 2004 | John Pardon

[sinkspur]

If this guy's talking to Bob Herbert, I doubt he was ever a "moderate conservative," or a Republican for that matter.

[SamAdams76]

I'm currently overworked and very much underpaid, but adding significantly to my resume. I've become completely mercenary in my outlook, and will sell my services to the hightest bidder.

Not to pick on you but this was already the general sentiment of IT people years before this outsourcing phenomenon came on the scene. All during the go-go 1980s and 1990s, we had rapid turnover in IT departments because everybody was jumping ship for greener pastures elsewhere. There was no "loyalty" no matter how well they were treated. We'd have IT people coming in all the time with "better offers" from elsewhere, forcing us to either match it or see them vanish to the guy down the street who was offering them a few dollars more, leaving us in the lurch. If it wasn't extortion, it was pretty close to it.

Not that I'm complaining about that. It was the way it was. But it seems that many displaced IT people don't like having the shoe on the other foot. Now that companies are the ones finding the better deals, the IT people aren't liking it very much.

Just food for thought. I'm not taking a position either way on this.

[stainlessbanner]

filing

[JoeSchem]

I'm a moderate conservative now alienated from the Republican Party and the Bush administration because of free trade, outsourcing and the H-1B/L-1 visa programs championed by free-trade ideologues.

Notice no mention of illegal immigration, which I think is the major cause of chronic unemployment and depressed wages in the US.

[Dane]

Like a Lawyer firm that blitzes the other with paper.... The Gov overwhelms you with stats, In the end...you are confused and moving in a new time window of promise,..

Business Fatwa's..issued by the Money Mosque.

Whew, JMO, you read like Iranian backed Iraqi cleric Sadr, except you post the rhetoric in English.

[xrp]

My company has been experiencing that as well.

[hedgetrimmer]

Bump

[sinkspur]

people are moving into better, more permanent positions.

My wife's a headhunter in Sales and Marketing for IT, and she's already placed more people this year than all of last.

Since sales is overhead, there are a lot of companies in Dallas that are taking big risks that the economy has finally turned.

[stylin_geek]

I agree with your statement, however, the company I signed up with hired me for one job, and has now added a lot more responsibilities that are very much outside the scope of what I originally signed up for, without additional compensation. I did not start in IT when it was as you have described, although I know people who did.

[expat_panama]

...I don't expect my government or powerful multinational corporations to conspire to undermine my employment opportunities...

So according to Pardon, the government has in fact conspired with powerful multinational corporations to conspire to undermine his employment opportunities.

Look Pardon, every Wednesday when I conspire secretly with government officials at the trilateral commission, your employment never comes up.  Shut up and readjust your tinfoil.

[MrB]

The permanent place that I got hired into was initially looking for coders only, but they discovered that I have more skills, and are hiring me directly instead of as a contract coder.

[Poohbah]

Which is amazing, considering how many people in companies today use IT resources. RoI is simple for an IT pro to justify when he/she properly cites how important it is to have systems up 99.999% (the sacred "5 9s") of the time.

And that's the real problem: the IT shop can't quantify an answer to the question. They talk about how important five 9s is, but they can't SHOW how important it is.

[Dane]

I'm currently overworked and very much underpaid, but adding significantly to my resume. I've become completely mercenary in my outlook, and will sell my services to the hightest bidder.

Not to pick on you but this was already the general sentiment of IT people years before this outsourcing phenomenon came on the scene. All during the go-go 1980s and 1990s, we had rapid turnover in IT departments because everybody was jumping ship for greener pastures elsewhere. There was no "loyalty" no matter how well they were treated. We'd have IT people coming in all the time with "better offers" from elsewhere, forcing us to either match it or see them vanish to the guy down the street who was offering them a few dollars more, leaving us in the lurch. If it wasn't extortion, it was pretty close to it.

Not that I'm complaining about that. It was the way it was. But it seems that many displaced IT people don't like having the shoe on the other foot. Now that companies are the ones finding the better deals, the IT people aren't liking it very much.

Just food for thought. I'm not taking a position either way on this.

Reading from your above passage, you seem to have the experience that IT people believe that their skills are a one way street uphill.

Kinda of like the corporate thinking of GM in the 70's, IMO.

I can understand your reason to be diplomatic in your above passage, the IT people can be a very hubris lot on FR, IMO.

[Hatteras]

5 years?

As I tell all the headhunters, "Temp to perm? You kidding? There ain't no such thing as a permanent job anymore."

[stylin_geek]

One of the big problems with IT (ny end is network, OS and hardware support) is that if I do my job correctly, no one knows I'm doing anything.

Trying to convince someone of your value when your work is transparent is tough, to say the least.

About all one can really do is point out increased productivity to corporate heads. Unfortunately, when they see increased productivity, they also see people making a tangible effort, whereas the person making it possible for that increased productivity is virtually invisible.

[stainlessbanner]

You hit it right on, Poohbah. I find it very hard to believe many multi-million dollar IT initiatives recognize a real ROI.

[Poohbah]

You hit it right on, Poohbah. I find it very hard to believe many multi-million dollar IT initiatives recognize a real ROI.

I don't find it hard to believe at all.

To borrow a Rummyism, the ROI on IT tends to be an "unknown unknown." We can't give an ROI answer, because we don't understand the nature of the question.

[CyberCowboy777]

I find this all a bit melodramatic.

No person working in India can do my job. My clients want and get on site, quick response support. Our little firm has added a tech and continues to grow.

[Dane]

whereas the person making it possible for that increased productivity is virtually invisible.

Welcome to the real world.

There are two options, IMO, you can give your gripes to Kerry, a newspaper editor, or a union steward who will give you lip service and , IMO, make things worse, or see the real world and figure out a way to deal with it to your advantage.

[CasearianDaoist]

Well this is not the case nationally - particularly in the eastern seaboard, the Bay area, LA and the southren Tech centers. I have been in the business 35 years and I have not seen a market slimp like this. Ever.