Intel CEO Dr. Craig Barrett's view on outsourcing

I read with great interest Dr. Craig Barrett's opinion on education and outsourcing in the USAToday from April 28, 2004. I would like to chime in regarding some of the issues stated in the article and some of the global issues presented as I have seen them grow and develop over the past 15 years.

First off, just who in the heck is Wally McClure. I live in Knoxville, TN. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech (1990) and a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech (1991). I specialized in Computer Architecture, VLSI Design / Micro-electronics, and Digital Signal Processing. I worked at The Coca-Cola Company for a few years. I finally left there and started working for myself in 1996 writing custom developed software for customers. If not for the support of my family, I would not have made it through the early years of working on my own. I finally got going.

Let's start the discussion by looking at business in general and some trends.

• It is the goal of every business to have more money come in than go out. By having more money come in than go out, a positive cash flow is created. This is important because by having more money go out than come in, it is hard to do things like pay one's employees, pay for office space, and make other investments necessary for the short term and long term viability of a business. As a result, if all things are equal (and they never are), a business would prefer to pay less for a given product or service as oppossed to more for that same product and service. This is a very important point and will be the basis for decisions by many individuals and businesses.

• A company that has operations in multiple countries needs to have the right to use resources locally. There are a number of reasons for this. The bottom line is that any relationship can and must be a two way street.

• Companies are driven by thinking based on Wall Street numbers. A majority of business decision making is made in the short term. One merely has to look at the “dot coms” and the accounting scandals at major corporations to see that this is what is happening today. Google is a throw back to a different era. Loyalty is a thing of the past. The thought that someone will work in the same place for 30 to 40 years is an idea of the past. It went away when your fathers and grandfathers retired.

I take issue with several items that Dr. Barrett brings up in the article from April 28, 2004.

• Dr. Barrett states that the US Education system is the problem. I have seen that whenever there is a problem, there is a need to blame someone that is not at the table. Well, it is very hard to bring the US Education system to the table. I am a product of the US Education system, yet I was continually passed over by hardware companies such as Intel. I submitted my resume countless times to them. I made multiple phone calls. I received one phone call in response. I was told that I might be inline for an interview. I must have called every day for two weeks after that trying to find out more information. I thought that was showing persistence and interest, something that HR people said was a good thing. I never received the common curtoisy of a call back after the initial call stating that I might be in line for an interview. Several years ago, when bringing all kinds of offshore workers here, we were told that there were not enough high-tech American workers. Now these same people are saying that the education system is to blame. Let's see, they go from saying there are not enough workers to blaming the educational system. Sounds like someone looking for excuses to me.

• One item that Dr. Barrett brings up is that it is important to get a good education. Well, that is very true. I have a good education. There is an underlying assumption within this. That assumption is that companies are interested in hiring smart people. It is my experience that most companies are not interested in hiring smart people. When I was trying to get a job coming out of school, I found that companies were only interested in hiring people with experience. Well, I had no experience because I was coming from school, therefore, companies, and Intel was one in particular that did this, were not interested in hiring me, despite the fact that I graduated with honors in Electrical Engineering. There is an old story about the person who can't get experience because they can't get a job and who can't get a job because they can't get experience. I lived it. It is because of this that I do not do any Electrical Engineering work. One of the complaints that I have heard about hiring smart people is that they will move one. Well, that is a chance that a company must take. Hmm, didn't I mention something about loyalty earlier.
  It would seem that Intel itself needs to see how smart its people are. After all, they tried to hoist the IA-64 based CPUs on us.

As you can see, the US Business System has created a kind-of confrontational situation within itself. Dr. Barrett wants to play games and imply that there are not enough qualified people in the US. That is balony. There are plenty. The truth is that there are no qualified people in the US that will work for a rate that someone in an overseas location will work for. Dr. Barrett wants to hide from that fact as if there is something wrong with it. There is nothing wrong with it. US Businesses have a right to do as they please with regards to their money.

Having said the above, what do you think my views are on offshore outsourcing?  I think that a business has the right to run itself as it wants to be run.  If a business wants to send its work overseas, go ahead.  Getting more for less is what a business needs to do.  At the same time, it should realize that I also have that right.

Based on the above, what do I think workers should do?

• Realize the situation that workers are in. When the business you work for has no loyalty to you, why should you be loyal to them?

• Market, market, market. Get to know people at other companies. Make sure that they know who you are. Don't be afraid to toot your own horn.

• Keep your resume upto date. If you resume is upto date, it is quicker and easier to get it out and around to those that are hiring. If your spouse accidently sends it out to someone, well, that sometimes happens.

• Don't be afraid to change jobs. Why do we fear change? If you don't like what you are doing or where you are at, then look somewhere else.

• Don't burn your bridges. I think I need to learn this the most, so if you say “This is the pot calling the kettle black”, well it is. Just remember that “the pot calling the kettle black does not stop the kettle from being black.”

Wally

PS. It may seem that I have an axe to grind with Intel. That is not true. I wrote a position paper regarding Intel-based technology when I worked at The Coca-Cola Company that were very positive regarding them, their technology, and its use within the Coca-Cola computing enterprise.