Man, the tech industry job market is depressing these last 2 years or so (I had to move industry and temporarily adapt to a new career myself).  This weeks headlines are even more sad:

Dell will eliminate 8,000+ jobs over the next 12 months
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7512

Big job cuts at Motorola in effort to return to profitability
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7500

IBM to lay off about 1,300 U.S. workers - union

Quoted from 80s.fan

IBM to lay off about 1,300 U.S. workers - union

Only the tip of the iceberg.  IBM is rumoured to be making a big noise in the forest: 40-100K... if true, it will send IT salaries reeling backwards across the continent. my personal guess is IBM will move 20K jobs offshore.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/050707-ibm-layoffs.html

Learn to speak Chinese folks... the future is Asian...

Nortel has been there and seen that...

After cutting it's workforce from 97,000 employees (in 2000)  to 25,000 (today),
Nortel is now off-shoring most of it's tech efforts to China and India.

In China, the labour rate is 1/3 that of North America.

They have a pool of 50 MILLION people looking for jobs.  

The Chinese government is not only GIVING away land to big high-tech companies,
it also BUILDING ALL THEIR FACILITIES FOR FREE !

Nortel had a 2000 person lab facility recently open in China (...which didn't cost us a dime),
but that's dwarfed by Motorola's 5000 person office built right next door.
Lucent, Seimens, Cisco, Nokia, etc, are all jumping on the band-wagon.

With a population of 1 billion tech-saavy people, every company on the planet wants a "foorprint" there
to be able to tap into the exploding high-tech market.

With the US economy rapidly going down the toilet, it's only a matter of time
before the Chinese Yen is decoupled from the US dollar, which will see the Greenback
tumble into a free-fall.

Canada will fair better,  (look at our 93 cent dollar ...),  but it will still be tough times ahead...

I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom,  but there is little doubt that the "centre of the Universe"
won't be the US for much longer...

Then again, I'm just a tech geek, not a world economist, so what the hell do I know !    


Steph

I know CGI in Montreal is doing it as well with India.

A friend of mine working for them had to "train" some Indian employees who came to Canada especially for that (and of course, went back there after).

So basically he teached them his job....  

there is hope

I worked a year for a US cie based in ... Allentown that went "offshore" to ...Montreal !!  We are cheap compared to the US and we speak better english then the indian guys... so there is hope.

My cie here in laval is currently looking for ... 11 people in different IT fields

Quoted from Steph

I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom,  but there is little doubt that the "centre of the Universe"
won't be the US for much longer..

Totally agree with you there! And with their continued efforts to be the "world police" (at least when oil is involved) they are going to go down fast. All empires fall, and it was only a matter of time. Each empire thinks it is different from the last, but eventually they crumble and a new one emerges. What is concerning is who will be the new super power?

I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night (again) with my wife. What a different world we would be in today if Bush had lost the election. Well, actually he did, but that's another story. It's amazing to watch Gore speak. What an amazing speaker and motivator.

Well, I've now dabbled into political discussion which I try to avoid, so I'll shut up

Duane

Yes, I can echo all the above.
(I too work in high tech, same place as Steph!).

Many high-tech industries in Canada and the US have now offshored
not only manufacturing, but also some R & D, and other facilities.

While India, China, Turkey, and other 'low-cost centers' are currently
lower costs than here for most operations, I am not sure this will last
for many more years, as apparently now in India, well educated engineers
and computer scientists are being offered big bonuses to join some
companies there...
Similar to the high-tech boom (and later bust!) we had here in 1999.

Thus this 'low-cost' might not last, in my humble opinion.
(who knows, perhaps Canada and the US *might* become
a low cost center in 10 years!).

Edit: In the mean time, jobs are affected here, and the ones who
still work in high-tech are working harder than ever (for no more
salary, no overtime paid for most high-tech).

Not much time for pinball these days
But I am happy to still have a job that is challenging
that pays for a few EM and affordable SS project
pinball toys now and then

Cheers,
- Sylvain.

With a population of 1 billion tech-saavy people, every company on the planet wants a "foorprint" there
to be able to tap into the exploding high-tech market.
Steph[/quote]

Not to nitpick but I see this all the time there are nowhere near 1 billion tech savvy people in China or in India, there is indeed a population of over 1 billion in both countries but the tech savvy portion is more likely 200-300 million. Still a huge number but not so overstated.


Squid

This trend -- jobs moving away from the US, Canada and other developed nations -- has been discussed for some time. At one time, I owned a company OF 18 people. Foolishly, I focused on one industry and thought it would never change (Government of Canada). When that sector was hit with scandal, all contracts stopped...overnight. In a matter of months, I had to let everyone go, sublet space, sell all furniture, and move what remained into storage. It was a really tough time.

I was fortunate enough to learn about Tom Peters book "Re-imagine!". That book changed everything. We have to start thinking of ourselves as "Me, Inc.". Focus on your core competencies and market yourself like a company. Even though it is 4 years old, I highly recommend the book to anyone going through some tough times in the job market. The book is a bit depressing at the start -- it sets the framework -- but really gets the brain going. It is not a motivational book, btw, and is available at the library

Duane

Quoted from sylvain

While India, China, Turkey, and other 'low-cost centers' are currently
lower costs than here for most operations, I am not sure this will last
for many more years, as apparently now in India, well educated engineers
and computer scientists are being offered big bonuses to join some
companies there...
Similar to the high-tech boom (and later bust!) we had here in 1999.

What should happen is that "low cost centres" (your word should move and change as time goes on. Work flows to these areas as they are "cheap". The people get a higher standard of income. Work continues to flow. Companies start. Competition sets in for a fixed level of labour -- basically the companies within the country fight amongst themselves for resources. Prices increase. They continue to increase until they are no longer "cheap". Another country becomes the low cost centre. The previous low cost centre now has to compete with the world.

This trend while unsettling is a natural result of our information age and, in fact, I believe will lead to a better distribution of wealth. It's going to be tough going though (and I speak from experience on the tough going).

Duane