Should I.T guys be worried about outsourcing, etc?

Sylice

Basically, alot of people say that I.T jobs are being outsourced or hand to to H1B visa people, is this really as a big a problem as people (who usually dont work in I.T) make it out to be?

dstock7337

Sylice wrote: »

Basically, alot of people say that I.T jobs are being outsourced or hand to to H1B visa people, is this really as a big a problem as people (who usually dont work in I.T) make it out to be?

Make yourself marketable and never stop learning/adapting to the IT trends. If you make yourself an asset and marketable, you'll always have work regardless of where it is.

EANx

Depends on what you do and who you do it for. Programmers are more likely to be outsourced than sysadmins who are more likely to be outsourced than storage engineers. And private corporations are more likely to outsource than the US Government.

gespenstern

Yes, it is a problem (for the first world dwellers, of course, not for H1Bs and remote workers) and it keeps the wages lower than they would be without it, to the benefit of the superrich.

DZA_

Rather than being outsourced, did you consider robots taking over your job? https://willrobotstakemyjob.com/

TechGromit

DZA_ wrote: »

Rather than being outsourced, did you consider robots taking over your job?

Actually I believe the robots jobs were outsourced to the Philippines, lots of out of work robots on skid row now.

roxer

The answer to that was yes...but with Disney and several other companies being drug through the mud over replacing close to entire IT staffs with outsourced workers, I would say no. What they are doing is relying on companies like Tata to do that for them and then supply bodies. That way they are off the hook for dealing with H1Bs. I see too many jobs now stating they will not support or sponsor. But that can always be dealt with by having a third party handle the visa muck. I would be more concerned with SDN, SDI, and AI. Learn that and you're golden.

victor.s.andrei

Sylice wrote: »

Basically, alot of people say that I.T jobs are being outsourced or hand to to H1B visa people, is this really as a big a problem as people (who usually dont work in I.T) make it out to be?

Should you worry? No, largely because worrying is counterproductive.

That said, you will not need to worry if you continuously build and refine a portfolio of talents, skills, experiences, and relationships, since there will always be work of some kind to be done.

victor.s.andrei

EANx wrote: »

Depends on what you do and who you do it for. Programmers are more likely to be outsourced than sysadmins who are more likely to be outsourced than storage engineers. And private corporations are more likely to outsource than the US Government.

Not entirely true. Federal and state government IT is filled with contractors - that's work that's been outsourced though not offshored to say, India.

victor.s.andrei

roxer wrote: »

I would be more concerned with SDN, SDI, and AI.

THIS.

You hit the nail on the head.

I would throw in the cloud, too. Basically, the more automation and standardization, the fewer people are needed - and even Indians working for pennies on the dollar can't compete with zero.

EANx

victor.s.andrei wrote: »

Not entirely true. Federal and state government IT is filled with contractors - that's work that's been outsourced though not offshored to say, India.

The OP specifically referenced H1-Bs. The only generic "outsourcing" was in the title. Even discounting those jobs that require a clearance, most Federal jobs (I deliberately didn't mention non-Federal) require public trust which would be difficult for an H1-B to get.

d4nz1g

H1Bs are becoming less common now, seeing that inside a global company that used to transfer some guys every now and then to the US (CCIEs and etc, really good guys). Now, thats just over. It got extremely hard to get transferred to the US.
If it is hard for people who actually knows their stuff, you shouldnt worry about that anymore.
On the other hand, there are robots, automation, etc. Thats the real deal.

Jon_Cisco

Every job is being automated and outsourced as much as possible.

The real question is does that mean you should give up? I say try to be good at what you do and adapt to your circumstances.

Good Luck!
Jon

MalwareMike

Sorry if this isn't helpful but remember as new technology, regulations, and life changes...new jobs are created. So yes some jobs will be automated and/or outsourced but don't think forget about all the potential jobs that do not even exist yet.

kohr-ah

Stay stagnant and yes that is an issue you may face. I've worked at companies that outsourced then reinsourced 2 years later because of the Quality of Service hit. Keep your skills up. You don't have to know EVERYTHING but should be able to adapt easily and you'll be fine.