Bear Flag Republic Radio Weblog

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The article hints at what I am predicting - the offshore IT outsourcing trend right now is the business fad du jour. It remains unclear if executives will subsequently be able to bring their IT systems and software back in house if they need to, in the future. After firing so many U.S. workers, who are then faced with rapid skill obsolescence in fast changing technologies, U.S. employers will again be faced with a tech worker "shortage" when they realize they need to hire people in the U.S. Not to mention, a lack of worker loyalty towards companies that view their IT staff as a replaceable commodity. This portends some serious problems for the future of tech in the U.S. Watch for companies to resume staffing up U.S. positions after finding that offshore outsourcing fails to meet expectations - and to quickly proclaim a worker shortage and the need to import more temporary tech workers from abroad. They will also blame the U.S. for having a weak education system that just does not turn out enough scientists and engineers, and suggest that Americans are either not very smart, or lazy. In fact, the college students I know are all very, very much aware of what has happened in the tech sector the past three years and are extraordinarily skeptical of choosing careers in tech. Many have bailed out with new enrollments in computer science falling more than 60% over the past two years. American students are actually quite smart and are picking careers they believe provide greater security and steady, long term employment opportunities. [Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology]

comments < 9:35:55 AM        >