Live data from Hacker News

Indian IT, “You're Fired”

linkedin.com

1–10 of 175 posts

Re: Indian IT, “You're Fired”

#2
From the page:

At the meeting, Mr. Sikka also described how the company “released 11,000 jobs due to automation.” Many small shareholders appealed to the board to consider the “human cost” of layoffs in the software sector.

That quote made me chuckle, since I have witnessed first hand the IT industry in the West face massive job cuts through Out Sourcing and that has been going on for decades now.

Now I don't blame Out Sourcing per say, as governments let that happen, but it is a bit funny when the Out Sourcing gets Out Sourced.

Re: Indian IT, “You're Fired”

#3
post #2

From the page: At the meeting, Mr. Sikka also described how the company “released 11,000 jobs due to automation.” Many small shareholders appealed to the board to consider the “human cost” of layoffs in the software sector. That quote made me chuckle, since I have witnessed first hand the IT industry in the West face massive job cuts through Out Sourcing and that has been going on for decades now. Now I don't blame O…

I agree with your comment. The author seems taken back by the callousness of the cuts, but this is nothing new in the United States or even in other western countries.

I think Indian IT firms have gotten a free ride for many years using labor arbitrage. Now that there's a whiff of protectionism in the air from the United States and cloud computing is surging things aren't so easy anymore.

Re: Indian IT, “You're Fired”

#5
The Indian IT situation has reached somewhat of a breaking point, hence the current situation unfolding.

The real low level stuff is now being increasingly automated thus eliminating the need for cheap labor to do such tasks. At the same time the Indian firms never quite managed to broadly move up the value chain into more innovative and cutting edge areas, which is still very much the realm of local offices of their western customers. As a result there's an increasing oversupply of cheap but not all that good IT labor now flooding the market.

Fair or not there's also an increasingly negitive stigma in the west over Indian IT shops. Between growing domestic protectionism and the stereotypical "Indian help desk experience" that became the poster child for bad management decisions, I'm seeing a lot of firms bring even some of the lower level work back onshore--abeit to lower cost regions in their country (think Nebraska call centers now).

Re: Indian IT, “You're Fired”

#6
post #2

From the page: At the meeting, Mr. Sikka also described how the company “released 11,000 jobs due to automation.” Many small shareholders appealed to the board to consider the “human cost” of layoffs in the software sector. That quote made me chuckle, since I have witnessed first hand the IT industry in the West face massive job cuts through Out Sourcing and that has been going on for decades now. Now I don't blame O…

It is interesting that he mentions Western protectionism. Those of us in the trenches know that oursourcing rarely works in practice but for that part of the management that is in charge of the outsourcing program, after moving on to greener pa$tures. His successor usually receives the blame for later failures.

Re: Indian IT, “You're Fired”

#7
post #2

From the page: At the meeting, Mr. Sikka also described how the company “released 11,000 jobs due to automation.” Many small shareholders appealed to the board to consider the “human cost” of layoffs in the software sector. That quote made me chuckle, since I have witnessed first hand the IT industry in the West face massive job cuts through Out Sourcing and that has been going on for decades now. Now I don't blame O…

I agree with your comment. The author seems taken back by the callousness of the cuts, but this is nothing new in the United States or even in other western countries. I think Indian IT firms have gotten a free ride for many years using labor arbitrage. Now that there's a whiff of protectionism in the air from the United States and cloud computing is surging things aren't so easy anymore.

> I think Indian IT firms have gotten a free ride for many years using labor arbitrage.

Got it. So Apple building the phone in China or Cisco building routers in China is not labor arbitrage.

Re: Indian IT, “You're Fired”

#8
post #2

From the page: At the meeting, Mr. Sikka also described how the company “released 11,000 jobs due to automation.” Many small shareholders appealed to the board to consider the “human cost” of layoffs in the software sector. That quote made me chuckle, since I have witnessed first hand the IT industry in the West face massive job cuts through Out Sourcing and that has been going on for decades now. Now I don't blame O…

A lot of jobs were meant to be automated. Jobs (actually the work itself and the tasks invilved) generally go through phases. Phase 1 is to find cheaper ways to do the same thing and Phase 2 is automate that thing.

Re: Indian IT, “You're Fired”

#9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your comment. The author seems taken back by the callousness of the cuts, but this is nothing new in the United States or even in other western countries. I think Indian IT firms have gotten a free ride for many years using labor arbitrage. Now that there's a whiff of protectionism in the air from the United States and cloud computing is surging things aren't so easy anymore.

> I think Indian IT firms have gotten a free ride for many years using labor arbitrage. Got it. So Apple building the phone in China or Cisco building routers in China is not labor arbitrage.

That was labor and environmental and capital control arbitrage, plus subsidy from the government for utilities. (Now there is legitimate supply chain advantage in the area while other advantages are vanishing, though.)

Re: Indian IT, “You're Fired”

#10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your comment. The author seems taken back by the callousness of the cuts, but this is nothing new in the United States or even in other western countries. I think Indian IT firms have gotten a free ride for many years using labor arbitrage. Now that there's a whiff of protectionism in the air from the United States and cloud computing is surging things aren't so easy anymore.

> I think Indian IT firms have gotten a free ride for many years using labor arbitrage. Got it. So Apple building the phone in China or Cisco building routers in China is not labor arbitrage.

Because that's what they said or implied at all.
Post reply on HN