TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
First, if a company offers a wage which is appropriate in the locale and for which workers will willingly work, it is *not* exploitation *of the workers* but of the differences in prevailing wages from one country to another.
Second, many executive positions *cannot* be sent offshore--the example you gave, for example, of a CFO position, is one of these. There are simply too many differences, often quite subtle, in accounting standards and governmental rules regarding financial affairs that preclude it.
Third, it is fairly clear that our existing system in which companies are clearly judged by quarterly results rather than longer-term health that drives the efforts to cut all possible overhead. In addition, it will likely be necessary for incentives to be created for keeping jobs here before the trend is slowed.
However, I am not particularly optimistic that this will or can be done. In fact, I believe we are in the midst of another economic transition similar to the one in which our society changed from a manufacturing society to an information-based society.
At present, there are signs that the various markets in which offshoring can readily be done are experiencing wage increases and shortages of workers at formerly attractive wages to the extent that the cost differential is declining. In fact, in India there have been public concerns recently that some companies are moving new offshore initiatives to other countries--raising concerns that India may have bars to further growth in this arena.
In sum, your view of "exploitation" seems to me to be rather simplistic and largely inaccurate--at least as you apply it so broadly including knowledge workers. In my opinion, that is not a particularly productive attitude either for personally dealing with reality or for building an understanding of what is happening and, presumably, how to deal with it.
David
-----Original Message from Carol Lee <clee -at- austin -dot- rr -dot- com>-----
<<<Sean Wheller says:
*Offshoring is just a fact of globalization. I don't
*think anyone can stop it. All one can do, if
*negatively effected, is accept the change and adapt
*with it.>>>
Globalization is good. It can help leverage the strengths and overcome
the weaknesses of different regions and provide diverse goods and
opportunities to large numbers of people.
What I have a problem with is exploitation, regardless of who is
exploited where. What we are seeing with offshoring of labor, in the
textile, tech, and many other industries, is exploitation, not
globalization. ...
RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
