Who Moved My Work?

There’s no doubt that outsourcing almost any type of job can save a large business millions of dollars in the long run. So really, there should be no surprise after finding out that this is exactly what big companies such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard are doing. The typical salary for a programmer is almost ten times cheaper in India according to Will Work for Rupees. Not only that, but the quality of the programming is sometimes better than what Americans give. Overall, the competition American programmers face is almost overwhelming.

I really appreciated the author’s point of view in this situation. The first-person stories David Pink told of India’s poverty-ridden streets helped prove that some good does come of outsourcing, a rise of India’s middle class. Thousands of Indians are in, relatively speaking, well-paid jobs. However, this comes at the expense of Americans.

Yet, I agree with the Pink’s point that Americans can’t “have it both ways”, meaning we can’t be hypocritical about outsourcing. If we want cheap iPods, t-shirts, and cell phones, then we have to deal with the loss of American jobs at the same time; there’s no win-win situation.

I also must agree with Turner’s point that this outsourcing will eventually exterminate our middle class. Many low-skill workers will become unemployed while the rest of the population will remain highly paid Americans. The rich will get richer off the decrease in product prices, and the gap between the rich and the poor might extend dramatically. We would essentially become the country we are outsourcing to. This is very uncharacteristic of the American economy or what the founding fathers would have wanted for our country.

I feel, alongside Pink, that America’s best opportunity lies in the ability to forge friendships, be creative, take initiative, and market to the public. We can’t stop the business world’s profit-driven mindset. Instead of complaining though, Americans need to adapt to the situation and get back in the game. Take the jobs you can get and fight hard to get yourself a great education in another department. In the end, the competition will help America grow stronger and more ambitious as a whole.