Friedman describes the arrival of “zippies as a huge cohort of Indian youth who are the first to come of age since India shifted away from socialism and dived headfirst into global trade and the information revolution by turning itself into the world’s service center.” These young Indians took the knowledge they had of computers, their lack of fear of change and used it to their advantage. They developed a service that was useful and needed. They no longer had to leave their country to find work; they could create their own opportunities and thrive without leaving their homeland.
To make an interesting point Friedman uses an example of a contract being awarded to an US-based subsidiary of an Indian firm to “update the unemployment records for the state of Indiana” to show how the lines between the people being exploited and the ones doing the exploiting becomes very blurred. Basically, the firm agreed to use some local workers as well as Indian workers to complete the task. The work was started and the politicians entered the equation throwing things into a tailspin. They decided the contract should be cancelled because they were not Americans from Indiana performing the job. Was it fair to the people of Indiana to hire another firm at higher cost ($8.1 million more), which leaves less money for unemployment compensation, just to keep non- Americans from completing the job? I find this one a real mind bender.
There are many more interesting examples that show how the lines are blurred for many things involving technology and outsourcing. It is not all good or bad for either side of the equation. I look forward to finding out more.
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2 comments:
Good work with this summary post. How is the reading going for you?
:)
Hi Cheryl,
I agree, outsourcing is not 'all good' or 'all bad.' But, it is definitely something I think America should be concerned about. My main concern is the fact that it seems that many are just 'jumping on the bandwagon' of outsourcing before stepping back and looking at other opportunities.....such as homesourcing. Homesourcing would be a grand opportunity for many to earn a paycheck while staying at home with kids, sickly parents, etc. Too, I absolutely cannot fault the Indian youth / the Zippies, the folks that American companies are outsourcing to: these Zippies are merely trying to make a better life for themselves and they are working hard to do so….and, might I add……they are succeeding at do so.
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