Re: The Journal News: Flow of jobs overseas has human toll -- MIDRANGE-L

At 11:57 AM -0400 7/29/03, Douglas Handy wrote:

When a company hires an offshore firm to code a project for them and the
software is returned via the internet, how should the tariffs be
imposed?  What
if the firm provided support or maintenance instead of a new project?

What if it is just a call center which is moved offshore?  For example, our
small town used to have a call center which employed hundreds of
people for tech
support for a major PC manufacturer.  They recently moved the entire operation
to the Phillipines where they are not putting in a 1600 seat call center.

What do you do?  Add international tarrifs to raise the price of long distance
to compensate for the labor rate differential?

What wonderful regulations and taxes apply in a situation like an
offshore call
center?  The concept of tarrifs seem to be easier to apply to things
like steel,
not that it has saved the steel industry either.

Doug,

I don't know the answer. In the case of a software company that used more than 50% offshore development to create a product, I would class the product as an import. But I'm just as sure that any company that would do that sort of thing would also re-classify as many US-based executive secretary jobs to "product development" as it took to get around any such law.

In cases like call centers and offshore IT development, I have no idea how to fix it. For the call center, no long-distance tariff would work because I'm sure that these companies would think nothing of using Internet voice from overseas to a station in the US to get around that.

I would think that in the long run a difference in quality would be perceived in the marketplace, but past experience shows that the vast majority of consumers are price-conscious to the exclusion of all else (they like to complain but won't pay more to resolve the complaints).

So are we all doomed? Should I pack up and move to India so I can get a job in IT?

Regards,

   - Lou Forlini
     Software Engineer
     System Support Products, Inc.

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