# Are you pissed about outsourcing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 6, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-pissed-about-outsourcing/556220 "2010-10-06T05:18:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-pissed-about-outsourcing/556220/41 "2010-10-06T20:29:07Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Missed Edit: > > My editorial: People don’t want to make 36k and advance. At 36k, they can’t buy the granite counter tops they NEED. They can’t have twin walk-in closets that they NEED. They can’t have 3-car garages that they NEED. They can’t have hardwood floors that they NEED. > > They’d rather accept the pity of all their friends, family and neighbors than accept a job that pays what am’ts to over 40k when you consider the health, dental and retirement, with 2-4% annual increases AND a chance to advance AND get tuition reimbursement. > > It’s either own a 3600 sq ft house with all the stuff that they NEED or have nothing. They choose nothing. Must be more noble or something. Wow. Those are a lot of assumptions to make about why people don’t take a crappy job. I’ve never worked tech support, but if I’ve read one thread on SDMB about what a shitty job tech support is, I’ve read a dozen. I have worked customer service lines for a car rental company, and I can tell you right now, I would rather gnaw my own foot off and then be dragged naked and screaming through the streets of Baghdad than to accept a position being berated and abused over the phone by idiots who want something for nothing. No salary is sufficient to allow that kind of stress in my life. Have you ever considered the notion that, if tech support/customer service was such a great job, then maybe people would be killing each other to compete for the positions you have to offer? Prime example: I’ve had satellite radio since there were two satellite radio companies. At first, I renewed my subscription for two years at a time because that drove the monthly rate down significantly. Then I got a new radio for the car and called the customer service to cut off the old radio and set up the new radio. Either there was a language barrier or the satellite radio company sucks, and I am not suggesting the two are mutually exclusive. Both could be true. But the customer service agent would not transfer the 18 months I had pre-paid and which was left in my subscription, to the new radio. They would not credit back a pro-rated amount for unused months of service. They would cut off the subscription to the old radio and they would sell me a brand spanking new subscription to the new radio. And that was all they would do. Now, I would hate being that customer service agent, having to tell pissed off customers about my company’s bullshit crap policies. I sure hated it when I worked for the car rental company. Yes, I know your car broke down through no fault of your own, you are still responsible for paying the tow. Yes, we are bringing you a new car, but you are still responsible for paying the tow. Yes, I am the antichrist and apparently sold out my integrity and soul for $14.42 an hour, including benefits. (Really? People can feed their kids on $30K a year? Seriously? I could barely make it as a _single_ person on 30K, and I have a 15 year old car that’s paid off and a very small modest house with plain old crappy ceramic tile countertops. :() ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-pissed-about-outsourcing/556220/42 "2010-10-06T20:50:00Z")
Wow, dogzilla, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen anyone here so eloquently prove the point they were apparently trying to refute. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-pissed-about-outsourcing/556220/43 "2010-10-06T20:57:38Z")
Waaaaa, my job is stressful. Waaaaa. Waaaaa. Stop, it’s embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-pissed-about-outsourcing/556220/44 "2010-10-06T21:07:25Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Wow, dogzilla, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen anyone here so eloquently prove the point they were apparently trying to refute. Well, my point was that customer service jobs are crappy. Customer service agents and tech support people are often not given the authority to make the decisions to give customers what they need to solve their problems. It’s not the employee’s fault the job is crappy. Your hands are tied behind your back and you job is to make the customer get off the phone, not solve their problems. That is soul sucking. It’s not just about the money. Note to Philster: My current job isn’t stressful at all. I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-pissed-about-outsourcing/556220/45 "2010-10-06T21:44:06Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > > [@Athena](#): > > > > I\ > > What gets me, though, is that companies talk out of both sides of their mouths. They don’t allow telecommuting, for example, and won’t work with people based across the country. At the same time, outsourcing to India or China is just fine. So which is it? Can you effectively work remotely, or not? > > > > There are a few companies attempting to outsource to US-based areas - rural areas where the cost of living isn’t so much. I’m intrigued by this, it seems like it might be a good bang-for-the buck kind of thing. > > I think this is the part that bothers me. > > I work in the publishing industry as an editor. While the manufacturing bits of this industry have gone overseas, American editors will still be needed to edit American English. So I’m not too terribly worried about being outsourced. Want some fun? Read a business transcript transcribed by someone for whom English is a second language. I’m amazed we outsourced to an offshore company for as long as we did. My industry, thankfully, isn’t in much danger, despite them trying oh so hard. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-pissed-about-outsourcing/556220/46 "2010-10-06T21:45:07Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Well, my point was that customer service jobs are crappy. Customer service agents and tech support people are often not given the authority to make the decisions to give customers what they need to solve their problems. It’s not the employee’s fault the job is crappy. Your hands are tied behind your back and you job is to make the customer get off the phone, not solve their problems. That is soul sucking. It’s not just about the money. No doubt it isn’t pleasant. But its $35k a year, plus health insurance in a place with 11% unemployment. And maybe that isn’t going to give you a bang up lifestyle, but its more than unemployment pays in any state - and there are plenty of families living off that check right now. It may not be “just about money” but who is going to pay to keep a roof over your head and food on the table? Eventually, unemployment runs out. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-pissed-about-outsourcing/556220/47 "2010-10-07T14:22:03Z")
I’ve got business cases which show we can run some call centers here, cheaper, even if we boost pay a bit. I mean, I can go up to almost 40k in some business cases, and run neck and neck with our outsourcing partner, but avoid a ton of grief and risk. The cases fall flat on their faces because we have some processes that we refuse to outsource, or can’t, and they pay more and are more rewarding/flexible, and yet we CANNOT get people when we need them. We have to hire six people for a process we are consolidating into one office and it’s around 40k/year with health/dental/retirement and we are afraid we won’t get them. So, where the hell am I gonna get 200 people (even when unemployment is 11% here)??? I’m sorry. I don’t want to beat up on our culture, but there is an enormous sense of entitlement right now. We’ve all lived inflated lives that have distorted our view of sustainable reality. We are going to have to accept that going back to 2000 sq ft homes, and having a little less of everything is actually better and more sustainable. We all can’t drive BMWs, have granite/tile/stainless/hardwood/everything and have it last. There is no way to support middle class families that think 4000 sq ft homes and 100k in automobiles is normal/average. . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-pissed-about-outsourcing/556220.md?page=2)