Thread: NYC HIT BY NERD JOB ROB - CITY $$ FOR INDIAN HIRES

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06282009/ne ... 176570.htm

NYC HIT BY NERD JOB ROB - CITY $$ FOR INDIAN HIRES

June 28, 2009

It's a geek tragedy.

While the city vows to save and create jobs for recession-ravaged New Yorkers, one of its biggest contractors is importing techies from India, instead of hiring local computer nerds.

IBM won a $1.9 million contract with the Department of Finance to analyze its old main databases so they can be improved, but the company has transported "consultants" from Mumbai and other parts of India to do most of the work.

At least 17 employees hired by an IBM subsidiary in India have worked in New York since October, inspecting the city's computer systems, which hold property and other tax records, insiders said.

"It was a dream come true," said Sunny Amin, 25, who traveled from his Mumbai home to the Big Apple -- his first US visit.

Amin, who has an engineering degree from a college in Aurangabad, landed his first job with IBM-India.

While a bit lost at first, Amin said, he rented an apartment in Parsippany, NJ, and commuted by bus. After nine months on Wall Street, he's being sent to another IBM job, in Minneapolis, on his three-year work visa.

Amin would not reveal his pay but did say, "I make about 10 times more than I would in India."

In contract documents, IBM says it pays its technical consultants at rates ranging from $26.24 to $278 an hour, not counting travel and living expenses.

It could not be learned whether IBM pays its Mumbai recruits the same rates, though watchdogs say US firms hire thousands of workers from India because they come cheap. IBM did not return calls.

But Amin's fortune means US citizens get shut out of well-paying jobs, critics charge.

"It's like a slap in the face," said Robert Ajaye, president of Local 2627, a union of city-employed computer specialists. "We have people in house who could do this job."

Instead, he said, some city staffers have had to "translate" for Indian techies lacking English skills.

Finance spokesman Sam Miller defended the contract.

"Our systems are so old that there are not many companies that have the ability to work on them. IBM does," he said.

susan.edelman@nypost.com

"Our systems are so old that there are not many companies that have the ability to work on them. IBM does," he said.

So, get the guys that designed and insalled them (Americans) out of retirement to fix them. (Remember the movie Space Cowboys?) Like no American can figure out what these antiquated computer systems need when today's techies probably learned on those same systems.
This smells, as it is not the so-called expertise of the guest workers who have been touted as the best and brightest. This is an absolute insult as the impression remains that we somehow lost our brains overnight and need help to get back on our feet. This stinks like vomit in a hot garage

Originally Posted by vortex

This is an absolute insult as the impression remains that we somehow lost our brains overnight and need help to get back on our feet. This stinks like vomit in a hot garage

The Federal government created the H-1B system specifically to throw Americans out of work. They cover over this with a series of lies, such as trying to make us think that young kids from India in their early twenties with poor training are magical "computer geniuses" that can't be found in the US and that experienced American computer workers are "over the hill" and jealous of people from India.

The lies get more and more difficult to believe everyday. To me the whole mess is symbolized by some recent pictures of Harry Reid where he has a very disturbed, angry look on his face, sort of like someone who was drinking and driving all night and then gets pulled over by the police all of a sudden. Our leaders want this. They want Americans to be unemployed. They want us in poverty.

Not only are H-1Bs coming to the US to take American jobs, big greedy US corporations are also offshoring our jobs to India due to cheap labor. My job, along with jobs of eight co-workers, will be offshored to India at the end of summer. We have been told that our Indian counterparts will be paid a salary of $500 per month. And our government does nothing to stop this.

What steps did you take after you have been impacted because of the offshoring. If you keep quiet and and just post it in forum then nothing is going to happen. You have to consolidate persons like you and give all the news to Media and meet your congressmen to tell what is happening. Also you have to disclose the company name to media with how many people are impacted. I know one of the Company Gap Inc. They did it with Infosys and now most of IT is with Infosys and many of the persons were got laid of slowly. Even if someone resigns there is no hiring and headcount is increased in Infosys India. Now IT employees are very less and in Infosys 80% are in India and 20% are here. When many companies in the world struggling to survive Infosys showed 17% profit.

Someone like you take action. You may or may not not get results immeditely but if you keep quiet you are the loser always. Best way to approach media is to tell your story. Also collect the number employees in companies now and 5 years before and 3 years before and 10 year before with outsourced employees and prove them that job loss is real. But more than half of media has the impression that H1b and outsourcing creates job. In upcoming CIR they are planning to increase the green card and H1B. Corporations lobby is strong and they will provide biased research data and immpress congress to acheive their agenda

Originally Posted by Skippy

Not only are H-1Bs coming to the US to take American jobs, big greedy US corporations are also offshoring our jobs to India due to cheap labor. My job, along with jobs of eight co-workers, will be offshored to India at the end of summer. We have been told that our Indian counterparts will be paid a salary of $500 per month. And our government does nothing to stop this.