Off-shoring not such a big deal

I can't say that I'm even the least bit surprised by this.

Lost your job? Don't look overseas [News.com]

According to the feds, less than 2% of lay-offs were lost to off-shoring. I'm not at all surprised by this. In fact, it has been my experience as a .NET code monkey that there is no shortage of jobs in my area. In my last contract gig, I was in fact the only “white boy,” the rest of my team being Indian or Asian. Those guys came here because of the opportunities. Smart guys, and probably more insistent about their rates than I am. That particular company was moving people in from all over the U.S. and Canada as well.

The report verifies that I'm not crazy at least, or that what I was experiencing was not a regional phenomenon. That makes the constant harping on the issue in the business press and by politicians even more irritating.

My personal feeling is that the move of some jobs to other countries is a natural progression of a maturing industry. Getting laid-off sucks (I've been there more times than I care to say), but it is something that is unavoidable. I don't think that protectionism helps either.

1 Comment

  • Amen to that! Protectionism will only weaken the US software industry over the long term which will result in even less jobs. If your job could easily be send overseas, work on improving your own skillset and gaining experience that will make you more valuable rather than pushing to have your job artificially protected by laws against offshoring.

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