Microsoft has laid off 5,000 workers in the last year, but it still feels the need to outsource more IT jobs to IndiaYou'd think that the deep recession in the IT industry and the tens of thousands of resulting layoffs would satisfy even the most parsimonious of bean counters -- but it hasn't. While unemployed U.S. techies learn to flip burgers, business is booming for India's two largest outsourcing firms -- Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys -- which have just reported their best quarters since the downturn began. Both have also announced they are hiring thousands of workers.
One of the companies helping to funnel cash and jobs across the globe is Microsoft, which recently announced that Infosys will take over a broad swath of its internal IT operations for the next three years. That's right -- the world's largest software company, which has laid off thousands of employees, won't even eat its own dog food, preferring instead to let someone else wrestle with the complexities of Windows Server and Windows 7.
I certainly don't begrudge Indian workers a job; like us, they want to feed their families and have a decent life. But how will the American economy ever recover if our biggest companies choose to fatten their margins at the expense of the domestic workforce and domestic suppliers?
Infosys preparing to take even more U.S. jobs
Infosys says it will provide Microsoft with IT help desk, desk-side services, and infrastructure and application support from multiple global centers. The Mumbai-based company will manage Microsoft's internal IT services for applications, devices, and databases in 450 locations across 104 countries.
Here's a part of an Infosys press release announcing the deal that is especially telling: "This agreement provides Infosys with a unique opportunity to partner with Microsoft IT and gain deep and early expertise in the implementation and management of the latest Microsoft technologies, and thus enhancing Infosys capabilities to help other customers leverage Microsoft's innovation and adopt these technologies."
Translation: The $100 million deal with Microsoft will help Infosys land even more outsourcing jobs at the expense of U.S. workers. Talk about adding insult to injury -- and Infosys is hardly hurting.
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http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/whos-buying-microsofts-outsourcing-excuses-390