Dell Says They're Not Taking Work Away From India
from the carefully-worded dept
Yesterday, everyone was talking about how Dell was supposedly shifting tech support back to the US from India. However, when asked about it in an Indian publication, the company denies it and says they’re not shifting any work back to the US. So, which is it? If you read what Dell’s people actually said, it’s not clear at all that they’re moving the jobs back. The original article just said that in response to complaints they were going to “make some changes” – but didn’t specifically say what those changes were. In an Associated Press story about this, someone from Dell says “we’re moving some calls around” but doesn’t indicate where or how.
Comments on “Dell Says They're Not Taking Work Away From India”
Not a Public Concern, Really
Whatever Dell is doing, it is an internal matter to the company and they (rightly) don’t want this turning into a political football. Reducing employment (or reducing promised numbers) could upset their employees and politicians in India, and any increase in the U.S. numbers could mean fewer reductions in headcount rather than an actual increase in U.S. hiring – or maybe not. Either way, Dell as a corporation will want to keep specific data internal so they don’t have politicians of either stripe on either side of the Pacific pointing fingers at them praising or blaming them.
So I expect Dell to remain (officially) circumspect about what is really going on, although I believe it was on this site that I first read about this from an “insider”.
Re: Not a Public Concern, Really
Really not a public concern, huh????
Let’s get a few facts straight buddy:
1) 2,000 jobs at 38,000/year = roughly $20 million in federal income tax dollars that just got shipped to India. Add another $4 million/year in state income taxes, and in 10 years, our collective pot is lighter by a quarter BILLION dollars.
2) Those dollars were budgeted by the US government, and will be spent, whether Dell keeps those 2,000 jobs in the US or not.
3) Since those dollars are spent, and the revenue isn’t there, the US government will borrow the difference.
4) My kid gets the bill for this.
5) I (and every other US taxpayer) get the bill for 2,000 unemployed Dell workers who are now getting unemployment checks and food stamps. That adds up to about $40 MILLION tax dollars (not counting the food stamps).
6) Heard of something called “Social Security?” Dell (when it EMPLOYED those 2,000 Americans) paid $5.5 million/year year into the Social Security system to support current retirees. Poof. That’s gone. (You got a mother buddy?)
7) Hey, guess what else is poof: health insurance for 2,000 people who you and I will now get to foot the bill for every time they need to see a doctor.
8) Ever look at your pay stub Mr. Executive (course not, you’re too busy looting your shareholders for parties on Sardinia!) Those 2,000 Dell workers helped pay for Medicare, to the tune of about $80,000/year. Not one single Indian now contributes to the health of American seniors.
9) The roads around Round Rock, Texas have potholes that need filling. The sales tax in Round Rock hovers around 8%. Assuming the average person spends about 40% of his/her income locally for sales-taxable items, the city of Round Rock is now out about $2.4 million a year.
Next time you open your trap, take a minute to think about your proposition. EVERY time Dell, or any other company ships jobs overseas it has dramatic affects on us all.
You may now return to your head to its place within your buttocks.
Re: Re: Not a Public Concern, Really
AMEN BROTHER !
Re: Re: Not a Public Concern, Really
Gee, then how about we just pass laws making it illegal for companies to lay off people and then pass laws requiring companies to hire people and the amount they should pay them, where they should put them, etc. – after all, this would generate tax dollars, huh?
Yeah, takes me back to yesteryear, those planned economies of the Soviet Union…yeah, sounds like your paradise there – you must miss the ol’ USSR…imagine…every worker hired being the responsibility of some social worker instead of the decision of the company. SNIFF…excuse me while I cry for what we lost when that worker’s paradise failed.
I vote for you to be the bureaucrat who sits in some cubical who decides how many people Dell should hire based on some social welfare figure instead of a business decision. Let’s see how fast you run the company into the ground and get everyone at Dell laid off (see: France, Bull Computer – this has been tried before)
The bottom line is that employment by private companies is not a public concern. As a shareholder can complain or sell (or short) the stock and as a consumer you can boycott the company, but the bottom line is that this is Dell’s decision to make – no one else’s.
Re: Re: Not a Public Concern, Really
That analysis suggests that none of the people who lose jobs will ever find another job again.
It also ignores the fact that the company itself, and many of its shareholders who potentially benefit are American and pay taxes as well.
It’s fair to do the analysis and then weight the costs and benefits, but please don’t completely leave out all facts that don’t prove your point.
Re: Re: Not a Public Concern, Really
I think the real problem is having a government that can budget responsibly. Fact of the matter is that government beaurcarts will consume all available budget and ask for 2.5% more next year… and considering what they’re doing with it these days, I don’t believe they deserve their budgets. …and that my friend is your fault and your kids will get to pay for your lack of vision (but it’s not your fault really) with regard to your choice of government. Of course the reality is that the American public really hasn’t had a choice / voice in government for a very long time. What passes for “Democracy” in the United States is a long ago failed experiment that continues on in perception only.
Governments went hog wild during the boom times and exercised the same “irrational exhuberance” as everyone else… and that adjustment (government cycles lag way behind the standard business cycles) is going to take a very long time to normalize and you can count on your kids paying for that. The collapse of Social Security was calculated (note, I didn’t say “predicted”) long before the tech bubble and remains on schedule. Anyone who actually repects Social Security as an institution is either retarded or will live to regret their faith in government beaurcrats.
Plain English
That must be why they mention in their new commercials
Dell says:
” Tell Dell what you want in plain English” …
Re: Plain English
DELL – I WANT ENGLISH SPEAKING TECH SUPPORT !
Re: Re: Plain English
Ahem, I want Tech Support that are fluent in Geek.
Re: Re: Re: Plain English
Then move to Greece
Re: Plain English
No, they got it right… after all, they didn’t say “American English”.
Of course there’s nothing more amusing than an Indian call center worker trying to fake a Texas accent (and yes, I did hear this on Dell’s federal support line before they move the calls back to the US).
Re: Re: Plain English
That’s called ” En-grish “.
AND NO , I am NOT a BIGGOT !
You want my AMERICAN $$$ than SPEAK ENGLISH DAMMIT !
I don’t give a shit what race, religion or color you are, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to ” cow tow ” to the ” politically correct bullshit ” & attempt to interpret ” Spanglish “.
EVERY dollar that is spent sending jobs overseas to people that don’t even understand our language are less dollars for America.
Re: Re: Re: Plain English
Hey AMetamorphosis,
You’ve just solved your own problem. If you don’t like the companies hiring people overseas, don’t buy from them. You’re not forced to. So why make such a big deal out of it? Vote with your dollars.
Besides, I’d argue that you’re wrong that it’s “less dollars for America”. If it saves the company money, it gives them more dollars to spend elsewhere, and can help them grow the company into a larger company that can spend even more here in America. It’s not so black-and-white, no matter how much you want it to be.
Re: Re: Re:2 Plain English
Mike,
I don’t own a Dell … and I vote with my $$$ as is the democratic thing to do. I don’t purchase from Wal-mart either because they use slave labor from other countries and systematically put independent business people out of work while failing to give health insurance to over 50% of their employees.
I just fail to see how displacing American jobs stimulates the American economy & have yet to hear a good rebuttal.
Re: Re: Re:3 Plain English
That would imply that the US would be better off we were all still in agriculture and manufacturing.
However, by automating and outsourcing those things we’ve grown our economy consistently.
Why do you believe it’s different this time? Because it might impact your own job?
Re: Re: Re:4 Plain English
Mike how is exporting my human job to an Indian who is paid 1/6 of what I make ” automating ” my job ?
And how do you define that as even ethical ?
Outsourcing is a politically correct term for paying slave wages.
It impacts an entire technology economy. I can easily replace this job with another so my beliefs are still the same.
Your comparing apples and oranges.
Stinky Marketing
This really reaks of a makreting ploy. Get people to feel that Dell is helping America, but then on the other hand can’t offend the business and political folks in India.
Sounds like this “plan” backfired a bit.