Michigan loses as tech jobs slip overseas

Detroit News ^ | August 10, 2003 | Francis X. Donnelly, and Charles E. Ramirez

[Chief_Joe]

Wall Street loves the job migration trend.

... Covansys ... cut 200 jobs from its American work force and added a similar number to its foreign operations... and the company's stock promptly jumped from $3.75 to $6.09.

Technology firms say they offer customers the choice of having the work done on-site, off-site or offshore. Most governments select offshore because it's cheaper.

I've read these types of threads many times now and the same story repeats itself. Idiot decision makers continue to use one criteria for all decisions: what cost less. I've been involved with both corporate and government decision makers who make the call to send such jobs overseas, and I can say that they don't even have a clue as to the details of what it takes to make/perform the products/services they send overseas. How do they know that they are getting a good product back from these overseas programmers if they themselves know nothing about programming? How do they know it's good code? What it the potential risk of giving away our technological advantages that took years to develop to our third-world competitors? Does anyone who makes such decisions understand the concept of unintended consequences? How long do they think these third-world competitors of ours will be content to be our servants once we are 100% leveraged on their services? 

[harpseal]

I actually have looked at it on-line. Are there postings in the print edition not available on line? since I am well outside the DC area and do not subscribe to the Compost I will check that out at a Libaray.

Since I am not personally looking for a job I do not have that personal interest at this time.

However, I totally understand teh requirements for citizenship for some secdurity clearances but I also understand many defence contractors also use H1b's and sometimes work is farmed out to contractors who do not have the clearances to do the job as though they were employees.

Now about half of what I saw was bnot security clearance related . Further I did not notice a whole lot of senior analysis positions that were. But as I said since I am not looking for a job I did not look for myself per se. Do you find it so hard to imagine a person woul;d actually have his nations interest at heart?

[Euro-American Scum]

Now I would like to believe that all of these were real jobs but the simple fact is a job has to be advertised for US citizens before an H1b can be put into it.

This is a key, but often overlooked point. Ads circulating in major newspapers, not to mention Internet sites such as Dice, Monster and others are often smokescreens for recruiters who have no intention of putting Americans in them.

The H-1B who fills these jobs may be only filling that post on a temporary basis before they go back to their native country as an offshore worker.

[lelio]

"We're doing what our customers are asking for, and what causes us to be competitive," said Martin Clague, chief executive of Covansys. "This is part of natural market dynamics."

And this is why the government needs to show some leadership on this issue. Industry is concerned about one thing: the bottom line. They can't expect to be concerned that there's no one left to buy their product as it is really outside of their core companancy.
The feds should fulfill their "promote the general welfare" clause of the Constitution and start putting limits on work done outside of the country.