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[Steve Stone]

Survey Reflects U.S. Tech Worker Angst
February 13, 2004
WashTech News


Survey Reflects U.S. Tech Worker Angst
By D. David Beckman
WashTech News

Five years ago, a college degree in computer science or electronic
engineering seemed to bestow upon the holder an inside track toward
the American dream. But a study released Wednesday shows that for a
large percentage of technology workers, that dream has either dimmed
or has vanished altogether.

The study, released at a WashTech news conference Wednesday at
Carpenter's Hall in Seattle, shows that tech workers are clearly
worried about the future of the industry in the United States. Chief
concerns are declining wages, disappearing benefits and the threat
of offshore outsourcing,

Some of the findings: about 25 percent of respondents said their
company had moved work offshore, and one in five said they had
either been forced to train a foreign replacement worker or knew
someone who had.

More than half of respondents - 56 percent - said globalization and
the offshoring of jobs have resulted in job cuts and a decline in
wages and benefits.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents did not believe there is a need
for the H1-B visa program, and 81 percent said they would support
legislation to restrict the program.

The Web-based study, commissioned by WashTech, was conducted by the
Evans/McDonough Co. in coordination with Harris International. One
of the foremost concerns of the 410 respondents appeared to be about
offshore outsourcing, with 93 percent saying they worry about its
impact.

Former information technology workers Myra Bronstein and Dan DiLeva
stood before the Seattle media to recount their own stories, putting
human faces to the survey's findings.

DiLeva, who has a degree in computer science from the University of
Washington, developed software for 18 years until he was laid off in
late 2001. Just over two years and hundreds of resumes later, he
said he garnered only one interview. He is convinced he would have a
job if not for offshore outsourcing.

Bronstein, a veteran software tester of 14 years with an electronic
engineering degree, said her experience with offshore outsourcing
was one of the toughest of her life.

"I can assure you that this is one of the most stressful, demeaning,
dehumanizing, humiliating experiences of my life," she said. "No one
should have to deal with the issues of being a newly laid-off
person, both practical and emotional, while at the same time being
forced to train their replacements in order to receive their
unemployment benefits."

As Bronstein spoke, her story simultaneously echoed on the U.S.
Senate floor. After obtaining the WashTech study on Tuesday,
Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle set out to refute the Bush
Administration's pronouncement earlier this week that offshore
outsourcing is good for the U.S. economy. Daschle's intent appears
to be to turn the Bush Administration's stance into a campaign issue.

"They want to turn a jobless economy into a hopeless economy," said
Daschle. "People who think that shipping American jobs overseas is
good for the economy need to talk to people like Myra Bronstein.
She's not a statistic or an abstract concept on a computer model."

Last April, Bronstein and 16 other software testers at Bellevue-
based Watchmark Corp., now WatchMark-Comnitel, were called into a
Friday afternoon meeting. They were told they were being replaced by
workers in India whom the testers would be required to train before
being laid off. If Bronstein and the others refused, they were told
they would be ineligible for severance pay, unemployment insurance
and health insurance through COBRA.

The Indian replacement workers flew in over the weekend and reported
for training on Monday.

Bronstein, who has been unemployed for 10 months disputes statements
made by WatchMark spokeswoman Sherry Toly to The Seattle Times. On
Wednesday, the newspaper quoted Toly saying that 14 of the 17
employees whose jobs were outsourced have already found jobs.

"That issue is irrelevant," said Bronstein, "but those numbers are
bogus. I called four of those people and all continue to be
unemployed, or have taken temp jobs for a short time. Some are about
to lose unemployment benefits."

"The statements they are issuing now don't bear any resemblance to
those they made at time of our termination," said
Bronstein. "Verbally, they made it very clear that our package was
contingent on keeping our 'head in the game' and completing the
training (of the foreign replacements) successfully."

She also said Toly mischaracterized the conditions under which the
severance packages were offered.

"The way those options were presented to us left us little choice,"
said Bronstein.

Other Survey Findings

Evans/McDonough Co. officials said the survey sample obtained from
Harris International included programmers, database designers,
managers, systems and software developers, data processors and
technical writers.

The survey also shows that tech workers are coalescing into a
political force. The vast majority respondents - 91 percent - said
they are registered to vote and 87 percent said they vote in most
elections or in every election. An overwhelming majority - 86
percent - said they would support legislation that required
government IT contracts to be filled with U.S. workers.

One remarkable finding in the survey shows that the political
ideologies of the IT workers are distributed fairly evenly across
the spectrum. About 41 percent are Republicans, 26 percent are
Democrats, and 32 percent described themselves as Independents.

Numbers Hard to Come By

Over a year ago, a pivotal study on offshore outsourcing by
Massachusetts-based Forrester Research predicted 3.3 million white-
collar service jobs would be outsourced offshore by 2015. Last
summer, Congressman Adam Smith, D-Wash., asked the General
Accounting Office to investigate the impact offshore outsourcing on
U.S. high-tech workers, aerospace engineers, and state and federal
government workers at various levels whose jobs have been sent
offshore. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., co-signed the request. The GAO
report is due to be released later this year.

Marcus Courtney, president of WashTech, has estimated the number of
U.S. jobs sent offshore at around 600,000. Courtney predicts that
when more accurate figures become available, the number will be much
higher than initial estimates.

David Beckman is a freelance journalist who covers tech labor issues
for WashTech News. You can send him your comments at
dbeckman@davidbeckman.com
--


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[octo]

"Steve Stone"

Thanks for the post. Wonder if the CEO's would outsource their own
kids' jobs or their wifes' duties to save money for their pensions.
Nepotism only applies to their own families and not the society at
large.