A friend sent me an article about IBM offering recent laid off workers the opportunity to work in India and other markets where they have offices. What a reversal !!! In the late 1990’s the US had a shortage of IT workers now they are shipping them away. The comments on the article were interesting. Most were negative and blamed the company for seeking to exploit their laid off employees and hire them back at a lower rate. However there were a few that looked at it from a different perspective. Most of these workers would be in the upper class in these countries. They would be able to afford maids, drivers, private school for their children, cooks etc. It is one of the arguments I used to hear from my friends in the 1990’s who move back to Jamaica. The money may not be as good as in the US but they could have a good lifestyle. Work was also more laid back than in the US.
I think there are some positives to it. Experienceing another culture is one of the top ones I see. Some may not like this but we are now a global community. Many communication boundaries have been broken down by technology and we are rapidly moving to a global resource pool for workers.