There’s no doubt that the outsourcing of technical jobs is a real sore spot for many American IT professionals. Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) threw fuel on the outsourcing fire.
According to a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, CSC is announcing a “restructuring plan” to be carried out during the company’s fiscal years 2007 and 2008. The plan includes the mostly involuntary elimination of approximately 1,800 jobs in North America by FY08, and even more jobs in Europe. At the same time, CSC will be adding about 2,000 jobs in low wage countries like India. The company doesn’t try to hide the reason with convoluted euphemisms; it comes right out and says that one of the objectives is to “leverage the increased use of lower cost resources.”
Now, some of those “lower cost resources” in the overall restructuring plan might be buildings or facilities that the company intends to close, but there is no mistaking the intent to take high paying North American or European jobs to countries where wages are much lower.
I worked for CSC about 20 years ago. I had extreme pride in working for that company, and I learned a lot while there. At that time, the company invested quite a bit of time and money to develop its employees through training and advancement opportunities. I’m very saddened to see CSC bow to investor pressures to cut costs by cutting good quality people.
This “restructuring” of resources could cause quite a bit of stir with government agencies, which happen to make up a large portion of CSC’s customers. The American taxpayer is ultimately paying CSC to perform a job with resources that have just been shipped overseas.
I can foresee a time when companies like CSC that bid on contracts for federal or state agencies must certify that a majority of the work will be done by citizens, regardless of the cost. Yes, we want our government agencies to reap the benefits of using low cost providers, but do we want those benefits to come at the expense of the American high tech worker? (It would be like having every police department in the purchasing squad cars from Honda instead of Ford. If it weren’t for those police departments and their love for Crown Victorias, Ford would be in deeper pain than it is now!)
I understand that CSC is a business, and its first responsibility is to its owners – the shareholders. But when will shareholders recognize that what’s best for them is destroying the American high tech industry?
