Cheaper programmers, it can't get any lower

[Greg Kedrovsky]

On Fri, Aug 08, 2003 at 01:51:19PM -0500, Bradley Miller wrote:
> 
> Isn't it sad and ironic that years ago people were told "go on, let those 
> manufacturing jobs go to other countries and instead learn computer skills 
> and do higher paying jobs . . . "   Now we're cutting those jobs out and 
> sending them overseas.  That web site provides a good bit of satire on the 
> plight of programmers.  The only way that I see foreign work forces is a 
> great way for companies to run sweat shops without the 
> wages/bureaucracy/etc...

Hey, Bradley. I'd like to politely disagree with you here on a point
(maybe two). I live in one of the countries that is "stealing" work from
the U.S. and my best friend (his name is Jorge / George, but we call him
Koki) works for one such company, a telephone service call center that
provides help for the southeast U.S. If someone wants to add a service to
their existing package (e.g. call forwarding), they dial a 1-800 number
or a local number, and the call is piped down here (Costa Rica) and
answered by somebody like my buddy, Koki (who has since been promoted to
middle management, so he doesn't field too many calls anymore). 

Koki doesn't work in a "sweat shop." It is a very nice work environment.
I mean, the guy loves it. It's clean, neat, orderly, etc. It's
"gringo," so it's nice and it works, and it doesn't smell bad. Koki
studied accounting at the U. where I used to teach. He makes more at the
call center than he could have ever made at an accounting job down here.
He makes $700 a month. And you know what, down here that's a great
salary! He appreciates it. He likes it. He's grateful for it. But, he
works 7 hour days, 5 days a week. No sweat shop to it. 

Maybe you'll agree with me that the problem really isn't the other
countries, like Costa Rica. The problem is in the U.S., with all the
inherent costs of keeping an employee employed (salaries, insurance,
benefits, etc.). When this call center pays Koki 700 dollars a month,
that's it. No red tape. No hoops to jump through. Done deal. 

Companies do not care about employees, that's true. The companies
themselves exist for the sole purpose of providing a good or service, and
in return making a profit. People care about people, and maybe we could
all throw out an example of a boss or a teacher or a professor that
cared about us when the system or the establishment didn't. But, we
can't blame a company for trying to shave costs and bump up profits,
especially when the difference is so enormous like cut in employee
expense when moving to a less-developed country. 

It just seems to me that in the U.S. we made our bed, and now that we
have to sleep in it, we don't like it. Man, what company wouldn't (!)
jump on the opportunity to shave costs like this call center did by
moving to Costa Rica? How much would they have had to pay each operator
in the States - total, including salary, pension, benefits, insurance,
unemployment, etc. etc. etc.? Here? 700 bucks. 

And guess what? There are hundreds of young professionals just like Koki
that are out there getting the "good jobs" that are being exported from
the U.S. He's the guy benefiting from it. 

I'm not trying to harp on anything you said. I just want you to know
that not all the companies that go overseas are running sweat shops. I
know some do. But, the ones I have direct contact with here in Costa
Rica ("third world" Latin America) are solid businesses looking to stay
afloat in a dog-eat-dog world. And they are giving a lot of people a lot
(!) of very good jobs, for a lot less than in the U.S. It's a good
thing, for the Costa Ricans, even though it's a bad thing for the U.S.
work force. But, again, I gotta go back to my comment: we did it to
ourselves ("we" as in "USA", collectively). There is no one to blame but
us. The company exists to make a buck. The underdeveloped countries want
and need the work, and it's _good_ work. So, who's to blame?

Buen día.
-Greg

-- 
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