While I’m not an expert on law or anything, the last ten years have seen a steady decline in technology jobs in the western world and I would like to share my opinion as someone who (luckily) still is part of the existing workforce.
When I finished high school, like many others I had to choose a major for college. This wasn’t a hard decision for me since I was always involved with computers and programming. So I decided I was going to major in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies).
There were many jobs available in that field during that time (around 2000), so this field seemed very lucrative to me. But then the dot-com bubble burst and from then on till now jobs have been disappearing steadily.
Many of these jobs have gone overseas due to outsourcing and this is, in my opinion like everything else on this blog, the biggest problem the western tech market is facing. So, how can these jobs be brought back to the western world? Here’s my two cents:
1. Tax companies that outsource labor.
Enforce an outsourcing tax that would bring the cost of overseas labor to a similar level as the cost of hiring workers from the same country. This will make it less lucrative for companies to hire an outsourcing provider.
2. Prohibit personal information from leaving the originating country.
Personal information should not be viewable by countries other than the originating country. This will allow western call- and data-centers to be reestablished and provides more safety to the people who’s personal information is being shared.
Besides from bringing jobs back to the countries involved, this will give a higher quality of service as we all know how much quality work has come from outsourcing. Finally, the drive for innovation will be greater as people will understand that their technologies will be used by their peers instead of competitors.
All in all, this is my personal stab at the topic and might be a bit too “risque” for some and I apologize in advance if you feel I have offended you.
*cough*grow a pair*cough*