Hi Thread, John Finger's credibility is in question as follows:
1) He makes distortions in the following sentence:
RE: "In India, companies can hire labor for 1.18% of the cost of hiring a U.S.-based employee."
His example is essentially comparing a rice picker & textile worker, with an American worker. Of course the average wage is lower (for a country whose industries include textile, rice, etc.). His apple to oranges comparison creates distortions.
So, an apple to apple comparison between the two countries (e.g. Indian engineer to American engineer), is approx 50% for entry-level engs for the large companies, according to Microsoft. But that figure doesn't include the intangible costs, only the tangible costs to corporate. It is nowhere near his 1% figure nor 16X.
RE: "In low-cost countries, companies can hire the best-skilled engineers and scientists for $500 per month."
I know for an absolute fact, the best engineers in low-cost countries do not cost $500/month. The absolute best engineers continue to experience upward pricing pressures world-wide. How many engineers, in how many countries, does this person even know?
RE: " In fact, a highly skilled computer programmer in the U.S. earns at least $80,000 per year, plus benefits. In India, he earns $5,000 per year, without benefits. Do the math: that's at least 16 professional jobs in India for every one job in the United States."
$5,000 per year is not a top engineer in India. So, he's comparing apples to oranges, once again.
His information is incorrect - he obviously does not have access to the real data. He should instead try either Dataquest or possibly IDC, of which one had the accurate figures that exactly match the actual industry figures.
RE: "Forrester also estimated that in the next 15 years, $136 billion in wages will move offshore"
This comment has important value. $136B is a lot of money and would represent a huge cut in tax revenue, if it were to transpire.
RE: "More than 2 million jobs have been lost in the United States since 2001"
Around 75% of those 2M were classified as manufacturing jobs, which is a lot of jobs. ( However, I wonder how they classify non-mfg jobs at manufacturing companies (e.g. Lucent, etc.) - is a non-mfg position classified as a mfg job if she or he works at a mfg company. Companies that produce hardware products or components, are classified as manufacturing companies, because they manufacture the production of a tangible good. )
RE: "Mandated labor laws in all of Germany and the European Union have caused employers to go to Poland for cheap workers."
Poland has mandated labor laws too - 3 months of guaranteed employment, as well as 30-something vacation days, and approximately a 50% tax rate for the entry-level engineer, and the Pzloty is going up (getting more costly) due to its anticipated entry to the EU alongside investors such as Soros.
RE: "get rid of the minimum wage (something which will never be done) and let the marketplace determine a viable wage."
No, impose a world-wide min wage.
RE: "Family leave...should never be mandated by government"
I'm very confident a business can operate at a low-cost while remaining the family leave in-tact. Unfortunately, there are too many individuals in power at the gov't (and within businesses) that appear to have no clue about the many younger companies that can indeed operate at a very low-cost per employee while maintaining a family leave policy. In fact, I can show statistics that prove the family leave act actually can reduce costs for businesses. It's truly an outdated concept to think that businesses can't - it's as if those in gov't power don't have that kind of insight, so seem to think according to the outdated compensation model and outdated thinking. A Family Leave policy doesn't equate to "pay more" - unless a business operates in outdated ways. The Republican party was actively trying to kill the Family Leave Act - because they (falsely) claimed it costs businesses more money. When it doesn't. Unfortunately, maybe only for those businesses that apparently aren't modern enough.
RE: adj to China's currency
Apparently, the futures are starting to act like it's going to be a done-deal.
Regards,
Amy J |
