The next wave of globalisation: Offshoring R&D to India and China

06 November 2007

Entrepreneur-turned-academic Vivek Wadhwa is up front about his use of offshoring and importing foreign talent in a previous professional life as founder and CEO of two technology companies. "I was one of the first to outsource software development to Russia in the early '90s. I was one of the first to use H-1B visas to bring workers to the U.S.A.," Wadhwa says. "Why did I do that? Because it was cheaper."


That tactic is even more lucrative for corporations today, says Wadhwa: "When you have a person on H-1B waiting for a green card, you have them captive for six to 10 years."


Wadhwa, who was addressing an audience at Harvard University, where he is now a Wertheim Fellow at Harvard Law School's Labor and Worklife Program , says outsourcing work to lower-cost countries and importing temporary foreign workers is all part of a larger globalisation transformation that is happening "an order of magnitude faster than the industrial revolution." According to Wadhwa, the ramifications of globalisation will be much greater than the industrial revolution. "It will impact our standard of living here in the U.S. in the next five to 10 years."


For better or worse? That depends on whom you ask, says Wadhwa. And it may be beside the point. "Globalisation is the reality," Wadhwa says. "Whether you like it or not, it's happening."


It's no longer just "low-end" work like call centre positions or data entry or even midlevel programming that's being shipped to China and India. High-value research and development work also is moving offshore, says Pete Engardio, a BusinessWeek senior editor who has been writing about globalisation for 20 years in addition to being a Harvard Law School Wertheim Fellow. And while cost is still the major driver, it's also about where talent and capabilities are available - and where they are available in mass.

http://www.cio.co.uk/concern/change/features/index.cfm?articleid=527

Guest Workers Fired After Protesting 'Slave' Conditions



And, I hear they are also doing swell in Iraq working on the U.S. Embassy.:sarcasm: