IT jobs 'lost to cheap labour' -

[Mich the Tester]

Does that include UK.....I dont think so...

Erm, it depends really. If the UK can stop producing lots of media studies people and start using the scientific and technical know-how of it's best universities to develop the kind of technologies the world wats to buy then the UK's future could be very bright.

Get rid of Gordon first though.

[Sysman]

[Edited] There is a prominent African economist who now says all aid should be suspended and the 3rd world left to sink or swim in the free market. He's confident that there will be massive improvement within 3 generations.

Interesting. Do you have a link please?

[sasguru]

Newly rich people buy European goods and always have because the new rich want to emulate old money. Hence they buy European brand names. Europe will be OK as long as it competes on quality and image. Try to compete on price and we're dead.

Is there really much difference between a Golf and a Kia Cee'd?
Only the elite in a country will pay for snob appeal. The mass markets lie in the medium.
Europe is going to have to adjust its standard of living downwards, apart from the real creator and innovators, of which there will always be few.

[sasguru]

Interesting. Do you have a link please?

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

Top bird.

"Moyo's book advocates pulling Africans out of poverty through fostering private sector investment in local businesses -- via trade, foreign direct investment and microfinance. "

Although I suppose Mich thinks microfinance is racist?

PS She isn't the only one. I had in mind another African bloke who said the same thing. A bit of a google should find him.

Here:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...363663,00.html

[expat]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...s-ibm-business

What they are trying to promote for those laid off in the USA is a move to the countries where the jobs are going yet you will only get the local going salary.

The linked article didn't make it clear, but I have seen it elsewhere, just as you describe: the US worker is laid off, the job re-appears in India, and as part of their concern for their workers, IBM help the laid-off employee t apply for the new Indian job. At Indian rates of course. So:

1. in effect they have benchmarked US workers' pay at Indian levels, take it or leave it.
2. trouble is, if the job is in India, a foreign (e.g. US) worker would need a visa to take the job. This is not always forthcoming, even if the worker does want to uproot across the world at his own expense for 1/10 of his old salary.

[expat]

"IBM workers in India earn an average $5,000 a year, compared with between $50,000 and $80,000 for a similar job in the US."

That's my point. They then charge the customer the same and pocket the difference. It goes on because western conmen know that most of the Indian techies can't just get on a plane and move to the US or Europe because of visa regulations, as they undoubtedly would if they could. Even those that do manage to come here are paid a lot less than westerners, and are often brought in on 'work experience projects' which allow their employer to get round local regulations.

So this is abusing Indian employees as well as European employees? Admirably comprehensive shafting.

[threaded]

Well the multinational plan is to buy a good at third world prices and sell it to first world prices. Talking about strategy and value creation. Not even sasguru could come up with a better plan.

* To be fair that is what happened a long time ago in the textile sector. They buy rubbish made in china at chinese prices but they try to sell it to you at europe prices. That is until I realised that it's all the same rubbish and then I just bought directly that non-branded chinese clothing at chinese prices. Now european/american clothing manufacturers are complaining about unfair competition

Aaaaactually. Britain made mass produced crap that looked a lot like the quality stuff from China.

Then the tables turned.

Such is life.

[threaded]

Interesting. Do you have a link please?

Yes.

[Francko]

. If the UK can stop producing lots of media studies people and start using the scientific and technical know-how of it's best universities to develop the kind of technologies the world wats to buy then the UK's future could be very bright.

They should also improve grammar studies

[darmstadt]

With the demographics in Europe, multi-nats know they are on to a loser. In India 75% of the pop are under 25 with a rising income. Now there's a market. If you had no nationalist thoughts where would you rather be?

Think like a CEO, man, FFS!

Yep, a rising income which will slowly reach the same levels of the people they have replaced as they're going to want to have that same standard of living. What this basically means is that eventually the 3rd world countries will become 1st world and vice versa. Get ready to start living in corrugated iron shanty towns chaps!