AOL Breaches the Social Contract, Too.

Sadly, this article doesn't surprise me. AOL is getting ready to ship jobs overseas, and media-darling Google is, too. Here's a disturbing excerpt:

Gartner predicted that one out of every 10 jobs at U.S. information technology companies will be shuttled abroad by the end of next year. IDC recently estimated that by 2007, 23 percent of all IT services jobs will be offshore, up from 5 percent this year. The figures refer to IT work done for U.S.-based companies.

Cost cutting is the most commonly cited reason for this practice. Hewlett-Packard has pegged the cost of a talented programmer in India at about $20,000 a year, well below the cost of a top U.S. tech worker. Companies also face facilities costs and the expense of managing offshore work, offsetting the impact on the bottom line. The total savings from hiring an IT service provider to perform foreign work may be as high as 40 percent to 50 percent, IDC analyst Ned May said.

Good to know that companies like AOL and HP will be laying off the workers that made them successful. I think Steve Case and Carly Fiorina should be replaced with CEO's in India who'll work for $20k a year.