The Indian BPO Industry
I was talking to this engineer working in Wipro, Gurgaon. And he just could not accept the fact that he was nothing but a cheap replacement for an American engineer. An American engineer who lost his job because he would be body-shopped to America to work on a project for an American company!
Why cannot the IITs and IIMs of our land understand that they are just mocking India as a nation, which is very interestingly called the IT hub of the world. And people like us starve for broadband and better implementation of technology in companies we deal with.
September 13th, 2005 at 03:12 pm
*cheap replacement* if u look it tht way all ppl working in tcs patni birlasoft even if they are developers are cheap replacements, i prefer to say they are economical alternate to few lazy American engineers who cost a fortune, dont come to office and work from home and whine all the time.
September 13th, 2005 at 10:07 pm
It’s just that the standard of living isn’t as high here, so you can have people working for peanuts.
September 14th, 2005 at 10:29 am
You know one hears this argument very often and I usually say “what’s wrong with being a cheap replacement?”. See its how you look at it, from an American’s (or any other person for that matter) point of view I am a cheap replacement if you compare me to the guy I’ve replaced.
However if you see me as just a software developer I am a software engineer working in Delhi and earning decently. I am aware of the fact that my services are in demand because they are much cheaper than what a developer from a first world country would charge, I am also aware that my services might not be in demand if there is a whole bunch of new developers who are willing to work for less!
As for better IT infrastructure I dont see how working for indian companies/projects will improve them?
September 16th, 2005 at 02:43 am
I’d say that we Software Engineers are not a cheap replacement rather I’d say we are paid in a currency (Ruppe) which is under-valued. I say so because the buying power of say 46 INR in India is much higher than buying power of 46 INR / 1 USD in USA. So, basically we Indian Engineers are well paid but when converted we look cheap.
Hence, I feel USD as a currency is over-valued and it doesn’t have as much buying power. Lets say 46 INR which is equal to 1 USD can buy you a decent lunch in a mediocre decent Indian Restaurant but 1 USD in USA can’t even buy you a cup of coffee.
September 18th, 2005 at 03:45 am
whatever the friggin fact is we are cheap