Though no job in the enterprise is safe from being offshored nowadays, the top of the IT department feels the most secure while the rank-and-file IT workers are the most concerned about their job security.
According to the 2006 Skills Survey, commissioned by ZDNet UK sister site Silicon.com, IT directors and chief information officers were the most confident their jobs would not be offshored. Perhaps secure in the knowledge that they will be around to orchestrate and manage any offshored IT work, two-thirds said they don't believe offshoring is a threat to their job.
Board directors and CEOs/CFOs/COOs were next in line, with half believing their jobs won't be offshored, followed closely by IT managers.
Despite the confidence of these high-fliers, some still fear for their jobs — at least one-fifth of each group believed they could lose their job because of offshoring.
IT pros and software and web developers, however, were more concerned. Nearly half of each group agreed offshoring was a threat to their current position — the highest percentages of any job title.
This is unsurprising given these are just the sorts of positions that can be filled by qualified graduates in foreign countries at a fraction of the price of UK salaries.
IT consultants were the most lukewarm on the topic, with slightly more disagreeing that offshoring threatens their job than agreeing. This is backed up by separate research from recruiting company Giant Group which revealed that job security is a low priority for consultants in today's job market — it is outweighed by skills development and an employer's brand status.
No part of the UK workforce is unaffected by offshoring, however. A majority of even the unemployed Skills Survey respondents believed offshoring negatively impacts their ability to land a job.
The results are based on responses from 1,198 individuals.
Talkback
Gee, there's a shock. The guy who makes teh decision to off-shore all his workers and destroy the local tech skills base is not scared about losing his job as part of that decision. So let me get this right, he therefore doesn't implement something that might put himself out of work ... glad it needed a survey to figure that out. Oh, unless of course there is a very fat pot-o-gold CIO bonus for doing it, that allows him to fall on his sword and retire to a mansion in the Bahamas with the CEO/CFO plaudits ringing in his ears..... I have no doubt in 5 years time we will read the offshoring disaster stories - savings unrealised, quality down the drain, major local unemployment. All too late - but if you are sipping a pina-colada on sulltry day in Jamaica, hey who cares?
Didn't have to wait long! Google Dell or Apple or Delta Airlines and the work offshore to see how a lot of companies are coming to their senses!
I used to think that, I have seen the 'well qualified' and 'expert' offshore staff first hand.
They haven't got a clue what to do, it now takes me twice as long to explain to one how to do something than it would take me to do it AND I have to explain EVERY TIME. So I am getting paid twice as much for each piece of work as I would have done. The support guys are earning loads of extra cash for call-outs too.
Lets see now, lets pay the IT people (are critical to a business) just an average salary.
For a job requiring high degree of business and technical skills lets not pay them a decent salary. Not forgetting the untold number of unpaid overtime that is frequently required to meet deadlines. Now I wonder if companies paid the company lawyers ot accountants just a average salary would the business would grid to a halt ?
And there's not much chance of IT people on the career ladder getting onto the company board. Organisations boards are too much dominated by accountants/ lawyers / generalists etc.
How about if we out source lawyers and accountants work .................now imagine all that money we could save when buying a house etc !!
Lets just give all the work to non-indiginous people! Good idea! How's that going to help our economy??? Smart @$$es
If you're the CTO or something, this will look great on paper becuase it saves money. But it is bound to backfire in the long-run.
The only people it really helps are those at the top of the ladder.
A new form of exploitation of lower paid workers in another country.! And we call our country a social democracy. A disgrace and hypocracy!