IT jobs 'lost to cheap labour' -

[sasguru]

Were you replaced by an Intra Company transfer bod? I was and the guy they replaced me with ahd exactly no skills for the job - I know as I had the task of training him up to replace me. He was supposed to be a data analyst yet had no exp of applications such as Excel - I'd say that was a pretty basic skill he was lacking.

We also used a tool on site that hardly anybody used. Tech M had an agent place the role on Jobserve at 170 a day, half what the guy doing the job was on. I think this was their justification for bringing somebody in as my colleague applied for it and even said he'd work at that rate (his wife had just been made redundant and just had kids) but was told he couldn't. Instead he had to train up a tech m guy and then was let go.

So to be honest NickNick - your 2p is worth just that!

For flips sake, can no one read here?
Nick was not talking about the merits or otherwise of off-shoring or out-sourcing but was complaining about the casual racism and outdated images posted by some (mich the tester) for example as OS posts shows.

[oracleslave]

For flips sake, can no one read here?

WHS. I thought the language barrier was only a problem for offshore consultants

[sasguru]

WHS. I thought the language barrier was only a problem for offshore consultants

What with the language barrier and the logic barrier, no wonder there's a need to bring in externals.

[DimPrawn]

On a similar vein

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8081354.stm

The UK Border Agency, the Home Office and the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) were criticised for a "shambolic" system which the fraudsters exploited.

Prosecutor Francis Sheridan told the court the evidence against the trio presented a "damning indictment" of failures of the UK's border controls.

The court heard Home office employees failed to spot discrepancies in employment certificates and wage slips and that some students appeared to have attended two full-time courses simultaneously.

Several applicants gave the same address and in one case one person's sex changed in the middle of the immigration process.

[BobShawadiwadi]

Good rant. But my take on the OP is that he's objecting to the portrayal of the "Indian prgrammer in the slums" image as being wrong and outdated.
And, yes, he's right.

My family not being living in slummy land. Our house in executive area - only six houses using water pipe. We are having electricity light, TV. Cellphone work outside but not inside as house made with wavy iron.

[sasguru]

My family not being living in slummy land. Our house in executive area - only six houses using water pipe. We are having electricity light, TV. Cellphone work outside but not inside as house made with wavy iron.

Hey Bob, long time no see. Plenty cheapness still?

[The Lone Gunman]

My family not being living in slummy land. Our house in executive area - only six houses using water pipe. We are having electricity light, TV. Cellphone work outside but not inside as house made with wavy iron.

Welcome back Bob. When are you going to update your Blog?

[PM-Junkie]

Hey PM - I've noticed a tendency for you to go off half-cocked without knowing the full facts. Typical PM then and why IT projects invariably fail in this country

And I have noticed an increasing tendency for you to talk out of your backside. As I've said before, you should go talk in the middle of a field - you would save the farmer a fortune in fertiliser.

[Menelaus]

Just in time - courtesy of the BBC (my bold)

Page last updated at 14:29 GMT, Wednesday, 3 June 2009 15:29 UK
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Three convicted over UK visa scam

An illegal immigrant from India who ran an immigration consultancy business in London has been convicted of running one of the UK's biggest visa scams.

Rakhi Shahi, 31, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, handling criminal property and immigration offences at Isleworth Crown Court.

Jatinder Kumar Sharma, 44, her husband, earlier admitted his part in the scam.

Neelam Sharma, 38, also thought to be Sharma's wife, was found guilty of handling some of the cash in the scam.

But she was cleared of conspiracy to defraud and immigration offences.

Both women had denied the charges. All three lived in Clarence Street in Southall, from where they ran their consultancy Univisas.

The group created thousands of bogus documents including college degree certificates, tax and wage forms, references and academic records, to secure UK visas including student visas.

The scam exploited the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, the International Graduate Scheme and other leave-to-remain visa applications.

Police suspect the company secured visas for at least 1,000 people, mostly from the Indian sub-continent, using a network of bogus colleges in London, Manchester, Bradford and Essex.

Eight Pakistani terror suspects who were arrested earlier this year during raids in Manchester and Liverpool are also thought to have used a similar scam to gain UK visas.

The UK Border Agency, the Home Office and the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) were criticised for a "shambolic" system which the fraudsters exploited.

Prosecutor Francis Sheridan told the court the evidence against the trio presented a "damning indictment" of failures of the UK's border controls.

The court heard Home office employees failed to spot discrepancies in employment certificates and wage slips and that some students appeared to have attended two full-time courses simultaneously.

Several applicants gave the same address and in one case one person's sex changed in the middle of the immigration process.

Last February the Metropolitan Police and the UK Border Agency raided Univisas' office and found 90,000 documents, including false university certificates and pay slips. Officers also found passports, 150 ink stamps and £22,500 in cash and seized 980 individual files.

The court heard the fraudsters charged hundreds and thousands of pounds as fees and were confident enough to offer a money-back guarantee to clients.

The scam garnered more than £1.5m in two years, of which police have so far been able to seize £420,000.

Jatinder Sharma was caught when he offered to get an undercover newspaper reporter a post-graduate diploma in business administration and other papers for about £4,000.

Following the verdict Tony Smith, the regional director of the UK Border Agency, said: "This was one of the largest joint investigations ever undertaken by the UK Border Agency and police.

"We believe we have cracked a major international conspiracy to facilitate the entry of illegal immigrants into the UK.

"Those behind it showed total disregard for the law, and their motives were purely financial."

Plan B, anyone?

[The Lone Gunman]

And I have noticed an increasing tendency for you to talk out of your backside. As I've said before, you should go talk in the middle of a field - you would save the farmer a fortune in fertiliser.

That's what SAS meant when he said he was outstanding in his field.