OUTSOURCING FOR PEACE

During these dark economic times, losing jobs to foreign lands is the last thing an hardworking Canadian wants to hear. But in "30 Little Turtles", Thomas Friedman argues that while the outsourcing of north American jobs may be difficult to accept, it is helping to make the world a safer place.

The article begins in Bangalore, India where Friedman (a Minnesota born American), is sitting in on an "accent neutralization" class for call centre employees. Strangely though he is there to teach these young Indians a Canadian accent. Yet another job that was outsourced I guess. The title of the article, "30 Little Turtles", is taken from a rather tongue twisting anecdote the instructor was using to teach proper Canadian pronunciation. As he observes the enthusiasm these young people are putting in to the class, Friedman is "uplifted". He hears stories from some of the veteran call centre employees about the incredible effect their job has had on their life. "All of them seem to have gained self-confidence and self-worth", he says. This seems strange to the average Canadian who sees working in a call centre a mundane and unwanted job.

Friedman continues with some more mind boggling information. Not only do these young Indians want to work at a call centre, a lot of them are educated and have college degrees. This is quite puzzling to the reader. Why would someone who went to college want to work at a call centre? Unless they were in charge of course. The answer is simple. The $$$. These jobs pay upwards to $300.00 a month and in India that is pretty good dough.

The call centre Industry is a broad one. Credit cards, phones, lost airline luggage and computer software trouble are just some of the customer services provided. Friedman is especially taken back by a young engineer working tech support for a unnamed American software giant. A man who takes so much pride in his work and brags to his friends about how cool it is helping Americans sort through their computer trouble.
As someone who does this at my own job from time to time, I can tell you that it is not the easiest job and being enthusiastic about it can be quite hard.

For the young women in these call centres, these jobs are a godsend. Friedman points out that the outsourcing of these jobs has help to liberate them. Providing them with a decent local wage and allowing them more freedom to pursue an education and giving them more say in whom they will marry. This is fantastic. In Canada, women have had these opportunities for a while now and they have become easy to take for granted. Friedman makes the reader start to think about the good that has come from the outsourcing of these jobs. Not for us here in North America, but for those who are still behind us in equal rights.

Friedman gathered a small group of these young Indians together to ask them why the enjoy their jobs so much. The answers he got all seemed to revolve around self confidence. As strange as that may seem to us Friedman notes, "There is nothing more positive than the self-confidence, dignity, and optimism that comes from a society knowing it is producing wealth by tapping its own brains - men's and women's...".

On the other side of the spectrum, Friedman describes what he heard from talking to three young Palestinian men in Ramallah just 5 months earlier. Telling him they had "no hope, no jobs and no dignity...". Even calling themselves "suicide bombers in waiting." This is an area that outsourcing has not yet reached I guess. Friedman seems to be hinting at an idea for peace in the middle east. One that I think is worth a shot. Hell we've tried everything else with no success.

Friedman tells us that he is not saying that jobs in India are more important than jobs here in North America. His point is that as we here in the west continue to progress, our "low-wage, low-prestige jobs" are bound to be moved to new and cheaper locations. Locations where they are considered "high-wage, high-prestige jobs". Jobs that are pumping up the youth of these countries with self-confidence and enabling them to fulfill their dreams. If the loss of a few unwanted jobs here in Canada is having such a positive effect on the rest of the world, then I as a humble Canadian say take em'.