Of COURSE managers count in all of these things -- and all things being equal (and perhaps some less so) Cost usually wins, because Cost usually wins over everything else with their customers. "Cost at a reasonable level of quality" probably also matters most to you too -- in the way you select your Car, your TV, your Internet service, your Cell Phone carrier, and even your toilet paper. Do you go out of your way to choose American TP -- Cause, "Damn-it, it's gotta be Americans wiping my Butt!!?" And if you are honest with yourself, that personal efficiency metric that you have in your head is what "really" matters to you -- not this religious fanaticism. And, It's the same efficiency metric that the managers in the companies you buy from will work towards no matter how painful it is to them or anyone else.

The reason that /currently/ I maintain my job in the states is that it /can't/ reasonably be outsourced right now. Otherwise, with the taxes and hostile attitudes of the government on business here in this country -- damn strait -- they would.

People talk a good talk about being charitable to the poor people in other countries, but darned if they will truly give poorer countries something truly valuable -- and train those other people in other countries to make their own living. Because, darn it... it's just unethical to do that! This guy in his Utopian universe of social/political correctness just lost a good job because he preferred his dream world to real life.

People... Listen... this is not a Zero Sum Game. One job at least was created here... a high skilled training job... and one with a lot of opportunity. The guy turned down a really, really good opportunity to help people -- both people overseas, and -- believe it or not -- his friends. You see, his friends were obviously doing a job that wasn't valuable in his home country any more. The sooner they got out of that job, the better!

We in America tend to think that we should keep as many jobs as possible here, no matter how crummy. And yet we complain about the monotony of some jobs, and the poor pay of unskilled labor locally. And... the bar is being raised ever higher. Software Engineers, IT, Help Desks, and Call centers... It's tough... But we have to realize -- and quickly -- that we are "competing" in a global labor economy. If there is another group of people in the world that can do the same job for less money, and the government structure is more favorable to business... then we better be a lot more efficient, offer some tangible benefit that the overseas people can't, or be prepared to go to war. That's just life!

On the other hand, developed countries have a lot of opportunity, and people ought to learn quickly to take advantage of that. People ought to educate themselves or start a business (thus managing/directing the cheap labor overseas). If people want low skilled labor jobs, especially, the school of the world tells us that they will have to compete now with unskilled labor from other countries -- and that's tough, but that's it. Wake up, people & don't be a victim! Learn to take advantage of the cold hard facts.

For the ethics part... He should have taken the job, or he should have gotten out of the business and started another. He's got to feed himself and his family. He's got to slap himself in the face and wake up and smell the Coffee -- It's a dog-eat-dog world -- not some dream world utopia he's locked his mind in. On the other hand, he also has a responsibility to tell his peers as quickly as possible that their jobs will be outsourced so that they can plan for the future.

You know... I have some experience here. I worked in Asia as an Expat. Here's what I learned...

Companies outsource for "cheap labor." But there are some companies that outsource jobs that take "skill" or "education." You know what you find out about the companies that do this? They invest in what ends up to be a "revolving door." They end up getting what they paid for in terms of support. They get the bottom of the barrel. Why? Because, when a person that works in that environment for any time learns something valuable, they CHANGE JOBS SO FAST THAT YOU CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT HIT YOU.

I think it's not that people work in dead end jobs out of choice... I think it's their political systems that cage them in those jobs. People should fight to be creative, but they are told that they should just do what they are told by their government that they will get a pension and be all right.

Well, excuse me but that's _not_ all right. People are meant to do more than let me screw a widget in this piece of crap the same way over and over again! People shouldn't be satisfied to mechanically do anything! Robots do that. Humans DON'T -- for very long, unless they are brainwashed into it, or overly compensated into doing it!

Then, they are /forced/ to be creative! Right now they are undoubtedly "overcompensated" by your own admission. But I disagree with you -- damn it! I disagree! I think it is a shame that people who are innately gifted in some way throw their lives away at sucky jobs like this. And sucky -- so sucky that it WASTES OTHERS LIVES IN THE PROCESS!!!

There are /always/ other more creative or beneficial jobs out there.

You know who is the most valuable person in the Wal-Mart store? It's the greeter. No Robot could ever take that job! That person should be the most coveted person in the store. Why? Because it's that person that is the first person that you see and it's that person's job to make you feel welcome to come in and spend your money for whatever crap they sell there.

Does it take great skill to do that job? Well, it SHOULD. It takes skill to be that happy smiling person that you want to see -- that tells you exactly where to find a person find your crap wherever it is in the store -- that knows what you are buying is crap and that you the customer know is crap, but it's darned cheap crap and you're happy to buy it because, after all, it's darned cheap crap.

Some of these people as well could be artists. And some.. some could be scientists... What was Einstein before he became a world renowned nuclear genius of relativity? He was a patent examiner. Truly a step above booth babe/bozo... but really.

I truly thing you underestimate people. I think you need to take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself why you don't believe in people, and why you don't believe that the market will have a place for them. You think that they are so stupid that they will never amount to anything more?

Wow, I thought I was bad just for saying what I felt.

If they were naughty hot Asian minxes wearing next to nothing at the booth... OK, I'm happy with that... I'll gladly stop on my way to work for a wink, and a "hey, baby -- put your money in here..."

But, these are not the kinds of people that sign up for toll booth jobs. Instead, we have humpty dumpty, or some old woman with either a confused or grumpy expression on their face... And why wouldn't they be grumpy... They flat-out /know/ that their job requires absolutely no creative thought and can absolutely be done better by a robot... The moment of enlightenment that these poor people experience when they finally understand that they have thrown their lives away on a job so mechanical and worthless -- that has to be a soul-crushing.

So, I'm all for this. Maybe the people who sat on their lazy butts not only contributing a pittance to the human condition, but actually wasting others time and energy in the process, will learn to redeem themselves and take upon themselves the challenge of bettering society.

"I see the strongest and the smartest men who have ever lived... and these men are pumping gas and waiting tables." ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 19