RE: India - Wave of the Future?

[Rose -dot- Wilcox -at- pinnaclewest -dot- com]

<<

1000 per month??  Well, I know nothing about costs in the US, 
but my medium-uppity 2-br apartment goes for just under that in 
Australian $.  Is the Bay area uppity, medium or what?

The San Francisco Bay Area as a whole is either first or second 
most expensive region in the USA. About 5.6 million people live 
within the region - say about 50 mile radius of San Francisco.

>>

I live in Phoenix Arizona which is probably medium.  We are about
$200-$300 cheaper with a decent two-bedroom running $800 or so.  I rent
a dump for $680.  (I like my dump!  And I hate moving!)

So in the example given previously working for Indian wages, I would
have about $320 US dollars a month left over.  In Phoenix you pretty
much have to have a car.  It is not a spread out city with poor public
transportation.  Even if you don't have a car payment, factor in gas,
insurance, and parking and soon you don't have enough money for food,
medical treatment, or clothes -- or sending a kid to college (which I
guess is more expensive in the USA than in India).  

What I hope is that offshore people actually raise their wages
eventually and even out and that our cost of living goes down and evens
out.  I even kind of thing that will happen in the next twenty years
naturally, but in the meantime, I tend to agree with some of the posters
with a "it's here, live with it" attitude.  I certainly don't blame the
Indian workers and wish them the best success.  I believe I live in a
global economy and I also have ties out of the country (in Mexico) so I
don't necessarily see globalization as bad.  Mostly I see how it is done
as possibly harmful to people of many countries (not just the USA).  

As for individual technical writers responses, some of us were "born to
be technical writers".  We would be doing it regardless of the money and
adapting.  We also can find ways to augment our skills and be of more
value.  Whether we like it or not, we will have to find ways of living
on 15-20% less than we made during the boom, even while prices are going
up.  Even with that, it will not be like living in a third world
country, based on my experiences in Mexico.  

I would definitely urge technical writers to look into skills such as
marketing communication, quality analysis, technical skills, etc. as
individuals to increase your changes of employment.  At least be the
best techwriter you can be.

However, as an economy I hope we address medical care issues, because
that is not a luxury.  Maybe I will have to drive a cheaper car,
economize on clothes, etc., but the medical care issue in the USA is a
bigger problem than that.   The high cost of higher education falls into
that category also.  So perhaps the changing economy will help the
USAians focus on what our true values are.  Without the quality of life
for our citizens, we may indeed turn into a third world country.  So we
might want to stay friends with the rising stars of today.

Just ruminating on a Wednesday.

Rosie

Rose A. Wilcox
CHQ, 17th Floor
Tranz1 QA/Documentation
602-250-2435
Rose -dot- Wilcox -at- PinnacleWest -dot- com
Leave something good in every day. 
Dolly Parton