[CLUE-Talk] Job web sites to visit

[Sean LeBlanc]

On 12-05 21:03, mgushee at havenrock.com wrote:
> On 5 Dec 2002 at 20:42, Jed S. Baer wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, 5 Dec 2002 15:15:44 -0700
> > Sean LeBlanc <seanleblanc at americanisp.net> wrote:
> > 
> > > Oracle's hardly unique in this matter, of course. But since they are #2
> > > largest software developer in sales - it doesn't bode well for my (and
> > > other American developers') future.
> > > 
> > > I'm not being entirely facetious about moving, either. I don't want to
> > > be forced to change careers - I love coding. But if things continue the
> > > way they are going....I'll have little choice. I guess the question is
> > > whether they will let the average American emigrate there.
> > 
> > A bit more commentary here: http://rc3.org/cgi-bin/less.pl?arg=4694
> 
> Hmm, ok. To the extent that the question is, "What can you do for yourself here and 
> now?" I think the guy's right on. But I also think he's missing the big picture: what's 
> happening now to IT jobs has already happened to manufacturing jobs, and if 
> current trends continue (why wouldn't they?), pretty soon if you're not a doctor, a 
> lawyer, a C-level executive at a major corporation, or a star entertainer, you can 
> forget about aspiring to even a middle-class lifestyle.
> 
> At the root of much of this is so-called "free trade", which really means free 
> movement of capital. And in signing up for NAFTA, the WTO, and the upcoming 
> GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services), our government is taking most of 
> our economic policy entirely out of the democratic arena (what's left of it) and 
> placing it in the hands of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats. So until the 
> citizens of this country wake up and take back their rights (I'm not holding my 
> breath), we're all going to be spending the rest of our lives defending our meager 
> little pieces of the pie.
> 
> Welcome to the 21st Century.

I tend to agree with you here - if we continue this trend of outsourcing -
where will America be in 5, 10, 15 years? There'd be no reason to think we'd
have an edge in *anything*. There will be no software industry here...and
it's one of the last places where we do have an edge. And yes, I think that
a large part of the middle class will be gone. I read somewhere a proponent
of outsourcing claiming that it creates more jobs in America, and is more
beneficial for the U.S. than it was for countries like India. Uh-huh. And I
have a bridge to sell ya. It very well might be good for *some* people in
America, but I doubt it is creating any new jobs.

As far as making yourself a "superstar programmer": unless you are the type
of superstar that a company can be built around, I think this is bogus
advice. As for communication, sorry, I don't think that will work, either.
Today I just got spam advertising $8/hr for Indian development...and I've
seen ones that were as low as $5/hr in Russia. All the communication in the
world is not going to compete with that - unless you are willing to get paid
under the table, because it'd be below minimum wage. As for PMs/architects,
etc., that may be true, but what percentage of the industry do these people
make up? And even *those* people aren't entirely above the fray - they can
just as easily be outsourced.

As for the doctors and lawyers: I'm sure that companies would outsource them
in a heartbeat if they could figure out how to do it: virtual surgery?
Sounds outlandish, but so did Edward Yourdon's hypothesis about the end of
the American programmer...the thing is, they both probably have much
stronger advocates, i.e., professional organizations speaking for them, esp.
the lawyers, for obvious reasons.

-- 
Sean LeBlanc:seanleblanc at americanisp.net  
http://users.americanisp.net/~seanleblanc/
Get MLAC at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mlac/
Please understand. We don't want no trouble. We just want the right to be 
different. That's all. 
-Pulp, "Different Class"