I was recently in contact with some people who have been replaced by people from the Indian subcontinent, during this process I was rebuked for referring to one of my Indian colleagues skill set in a derogatory manner. This (you’ll have to take my word for it) wasn’t a racial slur, but more a reflection on his skills as a systems administrator – these were non-existent. However it’s strange how things work out, I was told that there had been an other incident which panned out as detailed below! Sometimes there is an element of schadenfreude, I mean when a company pays off it’s own loyal staff and gives control of it’s core functions over to someone else – you do feel that they deserve everything that befalls them. Even if the old “I told you so!”, doesn’t seem to quite cut it!
UK – “Hello IT support.”
India – “Ah good, I was wondering if you could help me. I’m a systems administrator and need to map a network drive!”
UK – “What kind of systems administrator are you that doesn’t know how to map a network drive?”
India – “Well actually I’m a cook, but I’ve been moved over to systems administration.”
This is a précis of the conversation, I believe that there were more expletives used as adjectives than the text above indicates. No wonder that these people are paid below the minimum wage, although they are charged out at highly skilled rates. The profit margins for these Indian companies must be immense, I know that there are other overheads – but they are not that significant.
But the people being replaced are being paid off at a steady rate and because the parent company in India isn’t governed by UK wages law they can pay less than half the legal minimum in some cases. Bear in mind that these people are in the UK and have replaced people here, but because they are employed in India they can be exploited.
I’m not saying that there aren’t very knowledgeable and skilled people from India, just that some of them seem to be in a position where they are exploited.