Re: [Symantec NIS] They did it again: Support issues

From: Jerry Leslie (LESLIE@JRLVAX.HOUSTON.RR.COM)
Date: 06/22/02 

From: LESLIE@JRLVAX.HOUSTON.RR.COM (Jerry Leslie)
Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2002 04:08:51 GMT

Alun Jones (alun@texis.com) wrote:
: In article <AFJQ8.17$S83.962@paloalto-snr1.gtei.net>, Barry Margolin
: <barmar@genuity.net> wrote:
: >Disappointed, but not surprised. Customer support incompetence is an
: >epidemic. If you have a problem with DSL or cable modem, good luck trying
: >to reach someone who can tell you anything other than "power-cycle the
: >modem and reboot your computer."
:
: And yet, there are so many competent technical people out of work. It'd
: be nice if employers used the current climate to prune the truly dead-wood,
: and hire on the bright sparks in their place.
:

Employers are using the current climate to relocate their jobs offshore...

   http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-8324464.html
   India becoming world's back office - Tech News - CNET.com

  "...India's latest export: IT-enabled services.

   These include telemarketing, helpdesk support, medical transcription,
   back-office accounting, payroll management, maintaining legal
   databases, insurance claim and credit-card processing, animation, and
   higher-end engineering design--all of which can be delivered by phone,
   computer and the Internet..."

The recession is exacerbating the relocation of jobs offshore by giving
CEOs a quick fix to meet their quarterly financial targets...

   http://iwsun4.infoworld.com/articles/fe/xml/01/08/20/010820feindia.xml
   The back office moves to India

   [snip]

   Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Computer opened a 200-seat technical
   support center -- which is likely have as many as 400 seats within the
   next six months -- in Bangalore in June. The center offers both voice
   and e-mail support to Dell's home and small-business customers in the
   United States. By having its own center in Bangalore, Dell is ensuring
   that it puts its own quality processes and systems in place so that
   its customers enjoy the same quality of technical support worldwide,
   according to Richard Chase, vice president of technical support for
   Dell's home and small-business group.

   [snip]

   The U.S. economic slowdown is likely to be a boon to India's
   IT-enabled services providers. "The slowdown will impact us positively
   because companies need to take advantage of the leveraged costs of
   outsourcing to be in a position to consistently shore up their bottom
   lines quarter to quarter," says Meena Ganesh, director and co-founder
   of CustomerAsset in Bangalore.

   [snip]

   Revenue from IT-enabled services is likely to continue to grow in
   India despite -- or because of -- the U.S. slowdown, but it is likely
   to be a low-profile activity, because most customers are wary of being
   named. "It doesn't make for good public relations in the U.S. market
   to be seen to be moving jobs outside the United States, even if it
   makes great economic sense," says a representative for a U.S. company
   that outsources customer support to India."
   http://www.vnunet.com/News/1130523
   vnunet.com IT giants turn to Vietnam

India isn't the only beneficiary of the U.S. globalization...

   IT giants turn to Vietnam
   By James Middleton [28-03-2002]

   Emerging industry wins US government outsourcing deal

  "The US government last week signed its first deal to outsource
   software development to Vietnam.
   
   Under the terms of the six-month deal, the US state of Oklahoma will
   outsource the development of a trade website to Vietnam-based
   technology company Silkroad Systems.
   
   A report published last week by Research Vietnam revealed that big
   name North American companies are outsourcing to the country, along
   with European and Japanese players.
   
   Nortel, Cisco, IBM, Hewlett Packard, British Aerospace, BP and Sony
   are just some of the names investing in Vietnam..."

   [snip]
   
   William Baker, a director at Pacific Ventures, which will act on
   behalf of the State of Oklahoma during the six-month deal, explained:
   "If you can acquire the same or better technology and IT solutions at
   50 per cent of normal cost, the bottom line becomes a reality.
   
   "The combination of high quality work and lower costs makes Vietnam a
   very attractive place for IT outsourcing right now."

Taxpayers are subsidizing the relocation of jobs through so-called
"corporate welfare" programs...

One such program is the Export-Import Bank...

   http://www.progress.org/corpw30.htm
   Congressman Sanders on US Corporate Welfare Giveaways
   The Export-Import Bank: Corporate Welfare At Its Worst
  
   This country has a $6 trillion national debt, a growing deficit and
   is borrowing money from the Social Security Trust Fund in order to
   fund government services. We can no longer afford to provide over
   $125 billion every year in corporate welfare - tax breaks,
   subsidies and other wasteful spending - that goes to some of the
   largest, most profitable corporations in America.
     
   One of the most egregious forms of corporate welfare can be found
   at a little known federal agency called the Export-Import Bank, an
   institution that has a budget of about $1 billion a year and the
   capability of putting at risk some $15.5 billion in loan guarantees
   annually. At a time when the government is under-funding veterans'
   needs, education, health care, housing and many other vital
   services, over 80% of the subsidies distributed by the
   Export-Import Bank goes to Fortune 500 corporations. Among the
   companies that receive taxpayer support from the Ex-Im are Enron,
   Boeing, Halliburton, Mobil Oil, IBM, General Electric, AT&T,
   Motorola, Lucent Technologies, FedEx, General Motors, Raytheon, and
   United Technologies.
     
   You name the large multinational corporation, many of which make
   substantial campaign contributions to both political parties, and
   they're on the Ex-Im welfare line. Needless to say, many of these
   same companies receiving taxpayer support pay exorbitant salaries
   and benefits to their CEOs. IBM, for example, gave their former CEO
   Lou Gerstner over $260 million in stock options while they were
   lining up for their Ex-Im handouts.
     
   The great irony of Ex-Im policy is not just that taxpayer support
   goes to wealthy and profitable corporations that don't need it, but
   that in the name of "job creation" a substantial amount of federal
   funding goes to precisely those corporations that are eliminating
   hundreds of thousands of American jobs. In other words, American
   workers are providing funding to companies that are shutting down
   the plants in which they work, and are moving them to China,
   Mexico, Vietnam and wherever else they can find cheap labor. What
   a deal!..."

Another corporate welfare program is the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC) which provides political risk insurance to U.S.
companies for their overseas operations. The political risks include
both civil and international war...

   http://www.opic.gov/insurance/welcome.htm
   OPIC Insurance Main Page
   
   [snip]
                                                                        
  "Risk (risk), n. 1. Exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard
   or dangerous chance. Risk in today's increasingly global marketplace
   can take many different forms. Risk is a very real factor in business
   and investor decision making, and managing that risk is paramount to
   the ultimate success or failure of any international activity. Whether
   it is the expropriation or nationalization of your assets or losses
   that result from politically motivated violence such as civil or
   international wars, these risks affect businesses across the globe
   every day. OPIC Political Risk Insurance provides the security and
   peace of mind necessary to pursue opportunities in emerging markets,
   places where the rules of the game can change drastically and
   suddenly."

A few terrorist bombings in Bangalore, India could wipe out OPIC's
$ 4 billion in reserves.

How many jobs are being relocated overseas and how much tax revenue
is being lost ? There's no government agency chartered to track such
information.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts that the three occupations with
the largest job growth are retail sales, cashiers, and office clerks --
jobs that pay less than $ 25,000/year...

   http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.t07.htm
   Table 3c. Occupations with the largest job growth, 2000-10
   [Numbers in thousands of jobs]
                                                                 
                                              Employment Change
   Occupation
                                              2000 2010 Number Percent

   Combined food preparation 2,206 2,879 673 30
   and serving workers, including fast food
   Customer service representatives 1,946 2,577 631 32
   Registered nurses 2,194 2,755 561 26
   Retail salespersons 4,109 4,619 510 12
   Computer support specialists 506 996 490 97
   Cashiers, except gaming 3,325 3,799 474 14
   Office clerks, general 2,705 3,135 430 16
   Security guards 1,106 1,497 391 35
   Computer software engineers, applications 380 760 380 100
   Waiters and waitresses 1,983 2,347 364 18"

It's a safe bet that many of those "computer support specialists" and
"computer software engineers" positions will be outside the U.S.

--Jerry Leslie (my opinions are strictly my own)
  Note: leslie@jrlvax.houston.rr.com is invalid for email

"Grandpa, when I grow up, can I work at McDonald's like you do ?"

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