It’s interesting to see an eWeek article about outsourcing to Canada, apparently the US immigration laws are restrictive enough that US companies (such as Microsoft) are establishing offices there. It really makes sense, Canada seems like a much nicer place to live. It’s also interesting to see an eWeek blog post about reductions in outsourcing to India that claims that Indian salaries have increased so much that there are few benefits in outsourcing the work.
I have previously blogged about my approval of outsourcing as a form of charity to developing countries which received this response in Spanish. An English translation of a section of that post is “Conclusion, outsourcing hurts and the damage to many individuals is permanent. In countries in the third world like the one where I live, the damage affects the majority of the population (80% of the population is very poor). It’s ridiculous that less than 10% of the Mexican population earn 8 to 10 thousand pesos per month which only allows them to survive and save a little to buy a car or a house“.
I agree that the inequality in Mexico is a bad thing, but I think that outsourcing is more of a cure than a cause for such inequality. The competition for employees who are capable of doing such work will increase salaries for workers and create a middle-class. Also the net access which is needed for outsourced work will drive some political changes. When discussing these issues with Indians I never hear any complaints about outsourcing!