garrisondamn

you've seen a piccy of me on the usernames thread! but someone complained that they couldn't see my face.

but here goes. Sue & myself dressed in leather!!

chippy

Never been to India, love to go there one day though.

So are you planning on staying there Virat, or are you to become an ex-pat yourself?

Thanking and pleasing you for your informative and interesting post regarding Bangalore.

monkeyman1

Hers me, the trouble and the skids

Nice and tidy home

monkeyman1

Beware avoid Mandarin Airways

monkeyman1

Not my Job

monkeyman1

Thankfully Not my Kid

virat

Hi chippy,

I'm going to Oz mate! Much as I love my Bangalore and what it offers, I would love to live in Sydney. I love the lifestyle there and Bangalore has a way to go before it can afford me that. Until I can make it there, I'll be in bangalore and you can drop by anytime on your way to Oz or Nz!

chippy

Cheers.

owieb

"It really was that big! It's only the cold water that makes it look small!"

Taken on the "clothing optional" beach - Cape Range, WA.

Wilf

Virat,

What is your opinion on the way that western businesses are moving work to India to be done more cheaply than it was done in the USA/UK etc? Do you think it is all just tough for the american and british workers made unemployed by moving call centres, electronics manufacturing/research and development, and other jobs that are being moved or do you think it is a bad thing that needs to be stemmed and that there should be more international collaboration amongst workers so that business cannot ruin lives so easily? How do you feel about the fact that the wages paid to Indian workers are so much lower than used to be paid to the now unemployed USA/UK workers?

It is not often I get to speak to an Indian man and I am curious what your opinion is on this sort of thing which seems to be happening more and more these days.

Best wishes, Wilf

virat

Hi Wilf! Hard questions to give an opinion on but will try....

As you said, its western business that have decided to pull out work force out of their countries in to India and not the other way around. Those decisions would have been made by westerners in western countries for the most western of reasons...money.

I do feel sorry for what effect its had on families across the world which I might add, affected not only american or british workers but also Indians working in those countries. The first people to have been layed off in those countries were contracted workers from India etc whose contracts were not renewed. Having moved their families, belongings over to another country, they were also told that the company had no need for them. Unlike citizens, they didnt have the unemployment board to go back to. We have new abreviations here for B2B and B2C. B2B is Back 2 Bangalore and B2C is Back to Chennai! Its joke now when we see an Indian whos had to return to India thanks to the slowdown and we say "oh he's a B2B case". Britian and America have gotten rid of a lot of work visas for India. The H1B visa for the US is not an option anymore.

Indian workers do get paid considerally less that everyone else, but I think that is slowly starting to change. Income levels are going up for certain professions (mainly IT) and maybe after 10 years or so we could be on the same level as other countries. When that happens, you're not going to see a repeat of whats happened now.

The majority of new jobs in India are for work which is mainly a business process outsourcing. For example, finance or accounting, which are necessary for a business to run, but can be done by outside parties. I am not referring to the final accounts of a organisation, but to things like filing tax returns for individual, processing payroll, etc. Indian workers are working American timings ( overnight from 7.00 pm to 4.00 am). Core knowledge base jobs like R&D are still retained in the west. I havent heard of those moving to us except for small parts of a larger project.

I think proper colaboration between countries with respect to skilled labour will bring about a competitive environment where you are retained on your talent and not on the basis of your cost. We dont have trade agreements for skilled labour with anyone. Look at the EU. I think they are on the right path when it comes to this.

I've rambled on for too long.....

Wilf

Thanks, Virat. It is always nice to hear from someone who has first hand knowledge of this recent change to employment (well, nothing new, just on a larger scale really). I did not know that the H1Bs were at an end. I wonder about the incomes increasing in India, though. When Indian workers start to ask for more, or better working conditions, the owners will look to Africa, and so it all goes round again. That is why I believe there needs to be international collaboration amongst the workers, but there are many ways to divide and conquer and that is what these capitalists do so well.

Best wishes and good luck with your plans in Oz,
Wilf

chippy

Cash is king Wilfo, always has been, always will be. Reading your posts, I have some perception of what you're ideals are, and to some extent they are selfless and forward thinking, but unlikely to be realised in my lifetime, let alone yours.

Don

Highly unlikely. (I presume you are not talking about the very top northern strip.) Africa is the forgotten continent and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

China, however, is a distinct possibility.

seang

south africa is active currently seeking out off shore businesses especially telephony work(which takes some IT with it).very attractive to European companies as time zone is the same(as the UK).The draw backs are evident but once these companies can out source they will.