http://www.economist.com/node/21556584
This story about the city of Mumbai in India (formerly known as Bombay) live in an average of 48 square feet of living space (6’x8′). Unlike America, where half of the adult population is living by themselves in their own place, that typical household in Mumbai is probably husband and wife and 5 children. The flat doesn’t need wasted space for a bathroom with the trench running down the street.
An Indian computer programmer working for American minimum wage lives like a king in India. American business keeps getting lured into outsourcing programming to India only to realize that the credentials of some of the workers were completely phony, and more effort is going into making up excuses why work isn’t getting done, rather than getting the work done. Add in the huge time zone difference and the cultural differences (“Boss, I need six weeks off to go home because my religion requires me to be purified in the Ganges River. I know your project schedule requires me to be here, but American law says you can’t fire me because of my religion. See you in two months (unless something unexpected comes up)”
People in the niche specialty I used to work in are competing in a global market. How do you compete with people willing to sleep eight people in a room? You know what you’re doing and get the job done.
There are good programmers from India who do know what they are doing and are as good as Americans. They quickly learn that in America you aren’t someone’s servant and can leave and work for someone else for more money – and then those “outsourcing savings” suddenly vanish.
The root issue for us is that our schools and universities are focus on self-esteem and diversity, and the football team – not learning. The typical American spends 8 hours a day watching TV and movies. Hunger is a great motivator to get people to put down the remote and stop playing World of Warcraft. We aren’t there yet, but our time is coming. The bills for 99 weeks of unemployment checks and trillion dollar stimulus programs are coming due. You don’t get rich by borrowing money from a loan shark.
My business is entry level – kennel. If many of the young adults would put half the time into just doing their job rather than avoiding work, my turnover rate would be lower. The problem starts before school – in my area I see little evidence of a native work ethic, or ethics at all. Its the parents. The families who move here from out of the area and are self starters and contributors – those families, I hire those young adults. The fact is there are X percentage content to be poor, X percentage content to be in prison, X number who are content to sit on their asses and let someone else to the heavy lifting. That’s a reality. We are (God willing) exiting a prolonged period where society coddles losers, finally.
Back in the dark ages, after I graduated from Univ TX at Austin I was given an opportunity by Beatrice Foods (my employer) to move to India with the Int’l Div. The job was in Goa which used to be a Portugese colony and therefore, much more “modern” than New Delhi, or Bombay. Upon landing in India the stench was overwhelming. I could not believe that people could live under such circumstances. On the outside corner of the Sheraton Hotel there was a “public” shower ran by a local(basically four curtains and a hose attached to the water faucet. Needless to say, I didn’t take the job. The money was incredible, but the place was horrendous. The general manager live in one such place, maybe half of an American living room and had 6 kids! The place would leak when it rained, and the ceiling was full of holes.
Indians by nature are minimalists, they will do what is expected and no more. Very similar in nature to our own blacks who would prefer to be on the dole rather than work and earn a living.
My sense is that a lot of it was the way they passively resisted British rule, by pretending to cooperate and then laughing when the British relied on their word.
I’ve never been there, but I’ve also heard that when you fly into the country, the stench greets you long before the plane arrives at the airport. The Sacred Ganges river is nothing but the drainage channel for untreated raw sewage.
A relative of mine reminds me on a regular basis that a very large portion of pharmaceuticals sold in the US are now made in India
Howard Stern’s sidekick, the very liberal Robin Quivers, scheduled a vacation to India (back when she and Stern were on the actual radio). She landed and within hours booked a flight home.
That being said, all the world’s great cricketers compete regularly in India and keep going back for more. Maybe they hold their noses while riding between their hotels and the grounds?
Ever been to Clarksburg, West Virginia? (this is a really old anecdote and probably no longer true). The town had a horrendous smell that covered the city and for miles around, originating from a paper mill. But after you’re there for about an hour, you no longer smell it. Your smell receptors become thoroughly clogged with the sensation and your brain adapts to that as your “new normal”.
I thought Pakistan had the best cricket team money could buy?
The word is out. Indians no longer are willing to work for pennies on the U.S. dollar. Firms have been looking to Russia, China and Brazil in addition to India for some years now as outsourcing money savers. In India, status is king and a skilled worker will changes jobs as often as possible to get a better title and/or position. Money is important as well and once the word got out that every one else on the planet (save Timbuktu) demanded more compensation for outsourcing, the Indians have smartened up.
Yeah, I use to work for a small software company that was started in 1992. We had C+ programmers and were always looking for more. You could get a programming job so easy here in the states back in the 90’s. Some one made you mad at the current company, go down the street, they were hiring. Sign-on bonus everywhere, it was a great time.
(Clinton had nothing to do with it !)
Then around 2000 the management team sold our company to a Dow 50 company. It was ok until recession of 2002 and they let people go. We were told to use resources in the Bangalore India office. We had a saying :
“You can’t compete with the dirt floor guy” !
Hour difference sucks and they do get a lot of vacation in India. We redo a lot of their code here.
Our Big company never hired another American programmer here in the states. Those of us that have hung on, have seen a lot of change, offices closed, we all work from home, and remote in to the main offices Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Washington DC area. Its where we get our marching orders now.
They didn’t make us move (which I am thankful for) but bureaucracy in the big company is horrendous.
Our big company cut health insurance last year. I wonder what they will cut next year, cause we can’t compete with the dirt floor guy.
parrott
Sounds a lot like the company I’m talking with about doing some work from home 🙂