The View from India: Few Worries That Outsourcing Will Abate, but American IT Jobs Still Held By Americans an “Irritant”

On both sides of the globe, it’s an open secret that thousands of U.S. jobs have been moved to low-wage countries, especially India. Here’s what the jobs look like when they arrive there:

And this is what is left behind in the U.S.:

Now, the people reaping the really big profits in India (not the employees themselves, but their bosses) are no fools. They know that the U.S. is a democracy, and that an election is right around the corner. Are they afraid that working Americans will assert themselves at the polls, and elect candidates who might attempt to rein in the permanent elimination of American jobs through outsourcing?

Apparently not. They know how our political system works, and that our ruling elites have no intention whatsoever of standing in the way of globalization. But they’ve expressed resentment that when hired as consultants inside the U.S., they sometimes have no choice but to hire American workers for American jobs.

As sify.com, an Indian site reports, the IT industry in India isn’t worried about major shakeups, only “protectionist hiccups”—the usual little bumps on the road.

“There will be rhetoric during elections but it (outsourcing) has become a part of life in the US,” said Krishnakumar Natarajan, president & CEO, MindTree Consulting Ltd.

Natarajan understands that such rhetoric is necessary to pacify the peons but isn’t to be taken seriously by those in the know.

Nasscom chairman Ganesh Natarajan concurs. “I am just coming from DC (Washington) and the feeling there is that this will be resolved in the new administration,” he said.

Still there aren’t enough H1B visas (which allow alien workers to come into the U.S. and compete with Americans for jobs) to completely suit the outsourcers’ wishes. This is cause for some concern. Here’s a direct quote:

“Last year, out of every three (H1B) visas applied for by a company, only one was issued. This year also the ratio was the same. The professional visa would have taken care of this irritant [sic!],” said Natarajan. This visa restriction has forced IT firms to hire more American workers for onsite jobs. This pushes up their labour cost.

Clearer words are rarely spoken. To Indian outsourcing pros, the need to hire Americans in America is an “irritant” that pushes up costs. Some firms have resorted to drastic measures:

Wipro [the giant of outsourcing firms] has also begun localising its US operations by recruiting more Americans. [Corporate president] Nandy said that was one of many ways for Wipro to protect itself from being hit by the restrictive visa rules.

Indian readers are probably shaking their heads at the unfairness of it all. Visa rules in the U.S. may become too “restrictive.” So Indian firms may be forced to resort to extreme measures in order to “protect” themselves—like hiring a few Americans to do the jobs that have, unfortunately, remained in the United States.