Panic in US over IT job loss

Date: Monday, January 20, 2003 3:10 PM

H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

According to this article, Microsoft is afraid to publicize how many
jobs they have outsourced to Wipro. If Microsoft is so worried then why
did Bill Gates speak at the IIT Birthday party?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_141217,0003.htm

Panic in US over IT job loss report, India cautious
Srinivasa Prasad
Bangalore, January 18

As panic rises in the United States over losing jobs on account of IT
outsourcing to countries like India, Wipro on Friday became the first
major corporate to publicly acknowledge what it called an American
"backlash".

"This backlash is bound to grow in the coming six months and we have to
find ways of dealing with it," Wipro Vice-chairman Vivek Paul said
briefly, while speaking on his company's third-quarter performance.

He refused to elaborate, saying he would not like to add to the "media
frenzy" and the "sensitivity" surrounding US job losses.

Paul's unprovoked comments came days after the American media
extensively published the study of Forrester Research Inc which warned
that nearly 500,000 jobs currently held by Americans will be lost to
countries like India in the next 13 years.

The study said IT would be among the sectors "most affected" with more
and more US companies, to cut costs, "sending jobs" to countries where
labour is cheaper.

These fears peaked three weeks ago when the New Jersey senate admitted
a bill that sought to ban government departments from shifting IT jobs
overseas. The bill was moved after an American corporation bagged a
government contract and decided to shift some operations to Mumbai.

The bill is yet to passed and very little outsourcing is done by US
government agencies, but it provoked a quick reaction from the Indian
government which conveyed its apprehensions to the American
authorities.

It also sparked off a debate among IT companies here which fear that
the New Jersey move could lead to worse things and serious
repercussions for India. The NASSCOM (National Association for Software
and Service Companies) has promised to take up the issue with the US
government.

Just how sensitive the issue has become was evident when Paul refused
to give details of Wipro's deals with Microsoft. He indicated that
Microsft did not want to publicise its deals because of domestic fears.

"The outsourcing will continue and they can't stop it even if they try
to lobby," says Kris Krishnakanth, the head of Headhunters India. Paul
predicts that as global IT spending dwindles, "India will stand to
gain" with more contracts. That, according to an IT consultant, is
precisely is the worry of American jobhunters if not American
companies.

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