Relocating--what is the job market like?

[theArgiope]

Don't worry about India so much, the jobs going there are just production labor. It's no different than with automobiles, clothing, film making and so on. It's less expensive for redundant, factory type work. Position yourself in a strategic, innovation focused profession and you'll be just fine. Marketing and customer focused professions are also not going anywhere.

[Miker2069]

Originally Posted by theArgiope

Don't worry about India so much, the jobs going there are just production labor. It's no different than with automobiles, clothing, film making and so on. It's less expensive for redundant, factory type work. Position yourself in a strategic, innovation focused profession and you'll be just fine. Marketing and customer focused professions are also not going anywhere.

I would disagre slightly- there are lots of knowledge based/white collar jobs going overseas. Lots of financial services, programming, etc- and anything white collar in which proximity can be argued isn't necessary to get that job done (i.e., as long as phone/internet is present, the service or product can be generated). I do whole heartily agree that you should just continue to make yourself valuable by positioning yourself strategically.

[theArgiope]

Originally Posted by Miker2069

I would disagre slightly- there are lots of knowledge based/white collar jobs going overseas. Lots of financial services, programming, etc- and anything white collar in which proximity can be argued isn't necessary to get that job done (i.e., as long as phone/internet is present, the service or product can be generated). I do whole heartily agree that you should just continue to make yourself valuable by positioning yourself strategically.

Yeah, I was probably too vague in my comment... but you got the point of making yourself too valuable to replace. Most companies, I hope, realize the obvious loss resulting from a lack of true cultural awareness when shipping a job overseas. Understanding American culture and localized consumer psychology is critical to my role at... eh... you know, one of these local joints around here. =-)

One unfortunate side note, though, is when your manager knows how valuable and/or irreplaceable you are... but the executives above him don't, and could care less. I worked for a software company a few years ago that was taken over by the CFO. He decided the "Innovation Lab" I was working in was eating up all the money and since we produced prototypes - not products - we weren't worth the cost... thus, we got axed. Nine months later, the company went out of business because their programmers had no ideas for new products. Sometimes executives just don't know what's really going on in their line of business, and they overlook where the value is.

So going back to my original comment... yeah, I guess they can and will send anything over seas if they feel it's not important to keep it here. I forgot my own experience and overestimated the intelligence factor of "deciders" who make the call to send our jobs away.

Cheers, Mr. Mod... now on to the next topic... where the heck to find good fish and chips around this town...

[Carolina Blue]

Originally Posted by Miker2069

I would disagre slightly- there are lots of knowledge based/white collar jobs going overseas. Lots of financial services, programming, etc- and anything white collar in which proximity can be argued isn't necessary to get that job done (i.e., as long as phone/internet is present, the service or product can be generated). I do whole heartily agree that you should just continue to make yourself valuable by positioning yourself strategically.

One note, the white collar jobs that are going to India are jobs like call center postions, where people are essentially reading scripts, and as you said, some IT functions such as programming. What you find very little of going to India is positons where "decisions" are required to be made. In other words, Wachovia might outsource the financial analysis work needed to make a decision on a loan, i.e. financial spreading, pulling credit reports and the like, but no one in India is actually making the "decision" to make a loan. So the advice I give people regarding employment is, look at your job and see if you are a "decision maker" or someone just "going through the motions"; doing something that practically anyone could do. If its the latter, your job may be going to India some day soon. Just my thoughts.

[theArgiope]

So the advice I give people regarding employment is, look at your job and see if you are a "decision maker" or someone just "going through the motions"

"I am the decider..."

hehe