Some of the guys at work were very curious about Andrea's "training" techniques. Some in-depth research uncovered the following image exposing the truth.

4:06:54 PM    comment []  

Last year, Andrea was interviewed by the Seattle Times in her role working for Microsoft in Bangalore, India. They finally printed the article [Microsoft's call-center business in India gets an American accent]. The question we're all asking is; why is she sticking that paper so close to that guy's face?

The responses that people have to outsourcing are varied and driven greatly by emotional responses to the subject. The perception is that outsourcing is going to result in jobs lost in the US. The protectionist reaction is to say that outsourcing is bad and that we should protect ourselves. What I see is that this response is typical of people's reaction to most technological changes. Outsourcing is, in reality, driven by technological changes. The ability to travel and to communicate over distances has made outsourcing a feasible alternative over requiring all work to be done locally.

Will it result in jobs being lost in the US? Almost definitely. Is that a bad thing? It depends on how you look at it. If the jobs are not replaced, then it will be a bad thing. History has shown a trend where technological shifts cause temporary dispacement and rearragement of employment opportunities, but in the long run new jobs are created. A more important question, to my way of thinking is; will the jobs that are created as a result of outsourcing be comparable to the jobs that were sent overseas? That is a hard question to ask and I guess only time will tell. 11:06:31 AM    comment []