October 19, 2005
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Funny article.
http://www.smartmoney.com/esquire/index.cfm?Story=20050909-outsource
Not sure if he’s joking or not but he’s right in one statement, America is cooked. I’ve seen firsthand the kind of work that can be outsourced and while we still have an advantage in terms of knowledge, let’s not kid ourselves, that advantage isn’t nearly as big as we think it is. These people who live in China and India come from more desparate circumstances that we’ve ever faced and in general are way more driven than many Americans. Its sad to think that their second or even third tier students can come into almost any American school and instantly be top 10.
Thoughts?
Comments (34)
i co-manage a team of developers in china that we use for “special projects”.
it’s frightening how quickly they pick things up.
without the slightest bit of humor intended, we all need to learn chinese.
also, we get 3 of those guys for the cost one of one developer in the states. they also bitch less and work over night. they have no attitude and are happy to take our orders.
my company is growing incredibly fast. as a result of this growth and challenging projects, we used to have very high turnover on our development team. since we started working with these china based dudes, we have not hired any additional US based developers.
also, they seem to be growing like vegetables.
anytime we ask for more people, they pop up within a day.
the bar is going to be much higher for our kids.
It wasn’t long ago when America was in that “desperate” circumstance. The Cold War is just a footnote now, but the US vied to stay ahead of the communist superpowers. Now that one is gone and the other is essentially capitalist, there is no clear “enemy” to stay ahead of.
It’s just an evolution. My 2 cents is that the world will be a better place when there isn’t one country dominating the scene. Competition stirs innovation. In the long run, America and everyone else will be better off.
Americans are lazy. We expect more pay while doing less. We complain we have too much work while people in Third World countries don’t even have a job.
I want to outsource my life as well… Will contact YMII for my remote assistant!
just a vague recollection but, i remember reading this book years ago that said that after a certain amount of time, the balance of power shifts from one region to another in a sort of pattern and a different culture rises to become the new “superpower” or dominant culture. he provided evidence by tracing back the history of the world(from the Aztecs to the Egyptians to the Romans etc etc etc)…scary thing is…it predicted that America’s time is almost over(which becomes more and more frighteningly evident each passing day) and the next civilization/culture to advance will pop up somewhere in Eastern Asia…seemed like he was hinting at China.
i think we’ve become too “comfortable”. we’re not hungry anymore.
and i love the “[He] is a writer and editor of phenomenal grey matter” it cracks me up… =P
Fantastic article! haha And oh so true! *sigh* Americans are self-indulgent, look at how we live our lives and what we spend money on! I really do worry for the future generations, I can only hope we all raise our future children right.. If we think competition is rough now, how are things going to be in another 25 years?
only if you’re eat and drink with me =P
“Put it this way: Honey ends her emails with “Right time for right action, starts now!” Your average American assistant believes the “right time for right action” starts after a Starbucks venti latte and a discussion of last night’s Amazing Race 8….”
Or in our case, Xanga. hahahah!
Exceptionally interesting article. I find it to be frighteningly true. I think rchan731 and doughboy75 are both mostly right. We, as Americans, have become lazy, apathetic, and complacent. There are countries out there that have people who are harder working, more ambitious, and just as smart as we are, after all, we’re all members of the same human race. What seperates us is how hard we are willing to work, and I think as the years pass, it will become more and more apparent that our national apathy will eventually get the better of us. We’re on top for now, but I think we’ve reached our peak. In another few decades, we’ll all be living in a completely different world.
sad but true.
This is true, but I woudln’t say sad. In fact I’d say this is the beauty of capitalism. Nobody benefits when the American workforce is stagnant and lazy. This competition will cause a growth in world-wide productivity, increasing standards of the world in general. Of course globalization has it’s dangers when social issues aren’t considered and when laws are broken, but the fundamental issue, as we can see here, is that it pushes the top to keep moving ahead, or to risk being left behind.
So, a corporation scenario:
A) Hire lazy Americans who complain of long hours and higher pay and wanting less work
- OR -
B) Hire poor third country unemployed who is willing to do long hours to support their family at a lower salary
So, as everyone knows it by now, my company outsources our AOL Customer Service out of India coz it’ll save us more money without having to pay employees working the midnight shift.
my first vacation i won’t be lying on some tropical beach…getting drunk…. i’ll be lying in some bar getting drunk. hahaaaa….
sounds great right??
derrrrr. huh?
Until I lose my job to it, I don’t think outsourcing is so bad…
There are a couple of engineering schools in India. They are basically the cream of the crop as far as engineering schools go. Ppl there study for years to try and get in. The ones who don’t make the cut… go to our Ivy League schools. And for those kids… it’s devastating. How crazy is that?
The ppl who graduate from those engineering schools in India are basically guaranteed 6 figure salaries straight out of school. If you’re in the top 5-10 percent, you’re guaranteed to be a millionaire in 5 years… if you so desire. Can you say that about any school in the US?
btw, I lost my job to outsourcing, hehe.
We as Chinese will dominate and conquer…how the hell do you keep a couple billion people to stay in one place? Well need to just march people out of China LOL oh and btw there goes the bell curves at school hehehehe
Regarding Inkoh’s comments that is true about developers and all that, but with regards to actual art/design we still hold the advantage, they don’t hold up agains a modern designer in the states, trust me…my friend hire me here to design for him over there. Designers there are not all that and try to do things half way to get things done the quickest, cheapest, but at the cost of quality…but with techincal programing there is no way to easily fake it.
ryc: only if you are nice to me =P
u should try to come to the revival it’s going to be awesome
RYC: i’m really not a big fan of cha siu bao. i just can’t stop eating them lately. =P
where’s the place located?
That’s sad…. but true!!
My favorite line: In fact, if anyone ever used the phrase “desired satisfaction,” we’d all end up in a solemn meeting with HR.
I only briefly skimmed this article since it was rather lengthy, and I certainly appreciate his sarcasm and wit. Overseas outsourcing is definitely a sensitive subject since both my parents lost their jobs because of it, and boy has it been hell. And yet, instead of working harder at my job, here I am at the office costing my boss $X and I’m on Xanga. I also have every intention of spending the money that I “earn” at the Galleria tonight. So the article does hold truth to it.
What about communications skills? Have you ever tried to get a message through to someone in India. Until the language barrier is broken we’ll still be on top!
the song is already stuck in my head. and they you spell the lyrics out for me. you are so wrong!
hey, i thought a comment would be too long to post on your xanga, so I made a post about it!
Here are some helpful links for you as well: Arminianism and Arminian Logical Fallacies
*shrug* its a small world~
yo man….i can’t hang with you guys…you guys are hardcore!!…whoever team i’m on will surely lose!
hard to stay on top
oh crap. i forgot. they are still sitting in my cam. sorry!!! i’ll make a note for myself.
commenter #34: it was nice mtg you as well~
it’s a bit insane the number of comments you get.
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