IT Outsourcing India

The billions in spending included in the stimulus plan may be more effective than tax incentives in stemming the outsourcing of IT jobs

Corporate America’s drive to cut costs by moving jobs offshore has hit Robert Poulk hard. A veteran of the defense, aerospace, and computer industries, Poulk never had trouble finding work—until 2003. That year, his job as a senior troubleshooter for a major software manufacturer was moved offshore to Bangalore, India. During a yearlong period of unemployment, Poulk sent out five to seven résumés a week and got only four responses. Eventually, he was hired by a temp agency and assigned a job at his old company, which he asked not be identified, where he now works as a contractor for about 30% less money and no benefits.

Having tapped his savings to make mortgage payments during his period of unemployment, Poulk is now concerned he won’t have enough money for retirement. "I’m still waiting for the new prosperity that globalization was supposed to bring," he says.

Having tapped his savings to make mortgage payments during his period of unemployment, Poulk is now concerned he won’t have enough money for retirement. "I’m still waiting for the new prosperity that globalization was supposed to bring," he says.

Poulk’s hopes, and those of other U.S. workers whose jobs have been shipped overseas, now rest with President Barack Obama, who has pledged to keep more jobs in the U.S. On Jan. 16, just days before his inauguration, Obama told workers in Ohio, "We’re not looking to create just any kind of jobs here; we’re looking to create good jobs that pay well and can’t be shipped overseas."

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LONDON: Warner Brothers Entertainment is all set to chop 10 per cent of its global workforce and outsource jobs to India and Poland, says a media report.

"Warner Brothers Entertainment, the Hollywood studio behind The Dark Knight, the biggest grossing movie of 2008, is to shed 10 per cent of all employees as the economic recession starts to bite in Hollywood," The Financial Times has reported.

Further, the daily noted that in a move likely to alarm new American President Barack Obama, "who made keeping jobs in the US one of the centre pieces of his election campaign, the studio also plans to outsource an unspecified number of jobs to India and Poland".

The Financial Times in a report published online on Wednesday said that Warner Bros, which is part of Time Warner, plans to reduce about 800 jobs with most of the cuts coming in IT and support services.

Attributing to a letter by the studio Chairman Barry Meyer to Warner Bros staff, the daily said the cuts reflected "changes necessary for stability and growth going forward".

"The changing entertainment business landscape, shifting consumer demand and the overall state of the economy have affected companies around the world, and Warner Bros is not immune to these factors," Meyer was quoted as saying.

The report pointed out that the job cuts come after a year of cost-reduction moves at Warners. New Line Cinema, Warners’ sister company, was merged with the studio.

In addition, Warner Independent Pictures and Picturehouse, the company’s two niche labels that specialised in edgier films, were closed, it added.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

BANGALORE, India, (IPS/GIN) - The global recession appears likely to cost this information technology hub at least 50,000 jobs.

The Union of Information Technology Enabled Services (UNITES) Professionals, India, made that prediction for the first half of 2009.

Ever since United States majors like General Electric and American Express shifted their back office processing operations to India in 1994-96, the world’s major corporations, from the airlines to banking industries, resorted to business process outsourcing to this country, raising jobs from 553,000 in 2007 to the current 1.6 million.

Tight labor markets in the United States and Europe, linguistic capabilities, reliable and cheaper telephone communication and operational costs together with a government setup that encouraged foreign direct investment with tax breaks, have been major factors in the growth of the sector.

India’s information technology enabled services sector has been growing at a steady 30 percent rate over the past few years, and overall sales in 2007-2008 stood at $52 billion. But the slowdown in the U.S. and European markets has led to sudden job losses that have raised new labor issues.

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