[jcunning]

My company is the master of outsourcing.

Three years ago we outsourced three major divisions of software development to Cork, Ireland. We finally got those guys fully productive and independent. Meanwhile the company was building up the Bangalore division. Slowly but surely more work has been going to India, but nothing very serious. This April, they decided to close the entire Cork division and move everything over to Bangalore.

The genius part is that they forgot to hire replacements in India and didn't plan out any type of transition plan. Now people are gone, no one is hired, and no work is being done.

I agree that the cost benefit is not coming from the labor costs or time saved area. The labor cost is being equaled as they hire more people in India than we had before. All projects take longer to complete, so they don't care about that variable. The savings must be a combination of thinking more people is better and cheaper taxes. There is probably something else I don't know about in the equation that makes a difference.

I have managed to stay employed by being able to manage the India guys. It is a challenge with many late night meetings, but I made it through the year so far.