Outsourcing

Here is an editorial about global outsourcing of IT jobs that I saw on Slashdot. For obvious reasons this is a hot topic amongst the people I talk to. I take a contrarian view from most of my colleagues. Not only am I not particularly worried, I actually view this is a good thing for me personally. Like I say over and over, I want to work telecommute and live somewhere cheap. For a long time, American companies were very skittish about the idea of their employees working remotely. If your ass isn’t in a chair, how do we know you are working? That is changing, and now it has been established that many companies are willing to not only have employees work remotely but to do it from thousands of miles away as long as they get a break on rates. I think I can compete with that. I’m willing to give a break on rates myself if I’m allowed to live anywhere I want. My price would still be higher than programmers in Bangalore or Kiev but on the other hand you get someone in the same or a similar time zone, someone that can drive or fly to your facility relatively cheaply if necessary, and without the language and cultural barriers. Some companies aren’t going to care about those issues as long as the labor is cheap but my guess is that enough companies would prefer homegrown talent to keep me busy. At the very least, I’m willing to get in and fight for what I want.

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Dave Slusher is a blogger, podcaster, computer programmer, author, science fiction fan and father. Member of the Podcast Hall of Fame class of 2022.