posted 03-10-2004 08:45 PM         

There's always a Bright Side

posted 03-10-2004 10:28 PM         

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they send the calls to a call center in india,try dealing w/that.

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posted 03-11-2004 07:17 AM         

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Originally posted by ed monahan:

Geno, I just sold some luggage at a yard sale. Wish I had known. lol.

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Ed, remember, it was I that bought your old, torn, worn out luggage bags? Geno,,,,I'll give you first shot at them! Let me know.

posted 03-17-2004 11:09 PM         

Imagine my surprise today when traveling with my boss, went to a 'small town' dealer in central Wisconsin, a combination, dodge, chrysler, chevrolet dealer... and picked up a new 'fleet lease' vehicle.. an Impala....

Anyway... there on the floor of the dealership, what do I spy? A "Yellow"! (yooHoo) Prowler service rug... the heavy duty type ... approximately 3x5 feet.... with the "Plymouth" round logo, then the word Prowler, then a Yellow car outline.... what a find!

Chatted with the owner of the dealership... and walked out the door with the rug.... for a more-than-fair price! Everybody's happy!!

Anyone else see these rugs out there?

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Originally posted by jan bruggeman:
if you think thats bad,try sony electronics service,a real disaster.if you can get to talk to someone that speaks english good luck.wrote a letter to sonys ceo,not even an answer.if they are busy,they send the calls to a call center in india,try dealing w/that.

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Unless hiding under a rock for the last 2-3 years (figuratively, not you Jan)
MOST corporte call centers, help desks, accounting departments have all been
relocated to India. Why? Folks there are willing to work for $400 a month
and are damn glad to get it. I suspect, most folks here have a car note that
probably exceeds $400 a month, let alone the other bills they have.

Companies are doing this in droves. There are alot of high paying jobs like
engineers and software developer jobs that used to pay folks nice 6 figures
a year also migrating there to save corporations millions.

While I can't slight the companies for wanting to save money and make more
for their shareholders (that is the primary goal of company despite what
alot of folks may think), I think this is bad for this country and there
is going to be alot of fallout from it and repercussions through tons of
industries that relied on this high salary folks as consumers.

Most of these jobs are lost for good to cheap overseas labor. I also suspect
that more jobs (low to mid level management) may also be heading that way too.

If it keeps going this way, we are going to be left with only a CEO, few board members, and a partial skeleton crew at most companies. Everything else can be outsourced.

I wish I had an answer to this or a crystal ball to see the future....

posted 03-18-2004 01:18 PM         

Powell prods India on outsourcing
By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY

NEW DELHI, India — Secretary of State Colin Powell said here Tuesday that outsourcing — U.S. companies hiring workers abroad to take the place of U.S. employees — is "a reality of the 21st century," but that India should do more to offset the loss of U.S. jobs by opening its market to American goods. The number of U.S. jobs moving to India is small — fewer than 200,000 — but the practice has become highly controversial in a presidential election year that has seen anemic job growth.

U.S. companies are hiring Indians to perform service jobs ranging from stock market analysis to troubleshooting computer software. An estimated 2 million graduates fluent in English enter the workforce here each year.

Powell told reporters that economic issues dominated his discussions with Indian officials. He said he gently prodded them to drop barriers to American goods and services. "What we have to do is minimize dislocations (caused by outsourcing) and create new opportunities" for jobs in both countries. But Powell said there was no way to stop a trend fostered by Internet communications.

India is widely seen as one of the world's more closed economies. The United States had an $8 billion trade deficit with India in 2003. U.S. exports to India were $5 billion; imports were $13 billion.

Powell met later Tuesday with a group of young Indians whose tough questions and command of English showed why India has become a magnet for U.S. companies.

Saatvik Agarwal, 14, said American companies are outsourcing because Indian labor is cheap. A middle-class salary here is $2,000 to $7,000 a year.

posted 03-18-2004 07:15 PM         

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Originally posted by GenoTex:

Imagine my surprise today when ...
there on the floor of the dealership, what do I spy? A "Yellow"! (yooHoo) Prowler service rug... the heavy duty type ... approximately 3x5 feet.... with the "Plymouth" round logo, then the word Prowler, then a Yellow car outline.... what a find!

Anyone else see these rugs out there?

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