🚀 go-pugleaf

paul wrote:
> 
> http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/integration/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226500202
> 
> U.S. To Train 3,000 Offshore IT Workers
> 
> $22 million, federally-backed program aims to help outsourcers in
> South Asia become more fluent in areas like Java programming�and the
> English language.
> 
> By Paul McDougall
> InformationWeek
> August 3, 2010 01:59 PM
> 
> Despite President Obama's pledge to retain more hi-tech jobs in the
> U.S., a federal agency run by a hand-picked Obama appointee has
> launched a $22 million program to train workers, including 3,000
> specialists in IT and related functions, in South Asia.
> Following their training, the tech workers will be placed with
> outsourcing vendors in the region that provide offshore IT and
> business services to American companies looking to take advantage of
> the Asian subcontinent's low labor costs.
> 
> Under director Rajiv Shah, the United States Agency for International
> Development will partner with private outsourcers in Sri Lanka to
> teach workers there advanced IT skills like Enterprise Java (Java EE)
> programming, as well as skills in business process outsourcing and
> call center support. USAID will also help the trainees brush up on
> their English language proficiency.
> 
> "To help fill workforce gaps in BPO and IT, USAID is teaming up with
> leading BPO and IT/English language training companies to establish
> professional IT and English skills development training centers," the
> U.S. Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, said in a statement posted Friday
> on its Web site.
> 
> 
> 
> "Courses in Business Process Outsourcing, Enterprise Java, and English
> Language Skills will be offered at no charge to over 3,000 under- and
> unemployed students who will then participate in on-the-job training
> schemes with private firms," the embassy said.
> 
> USAID is also partnering with Sri Lankan companies in other
> industries, including construction and garment manufacturing, to help
> create 10,000 new jobs in the country, which is still recovering from
> a 30-year civil war that ended in 2009.
> 
> But it's the outsourcing program that's sure to draw the most fire
> from critics. While Obama acknowledged that occupations such as
> garment making don't add much value to the U.S. economy, he argued
> relentlessly during his presidential run that lawmakers needed to do
> more to keep hi-tech jobs in IT, biological sciences, and green energy
> in the country.
> 
> He also accused the Bush administration of creating tax loopholes that
> made it easier for U.S. companies to place work offshore in low-cost
> countries.
> 
> As recently as Monday, Obama, speaking at a Democratic fundraiser in
> Atlanta, boasted about his efforts to reduce offshoring. The President
> said he's implemented "a plan that�s focused on making our middle
> class more secure and our country more competitive in the long run --
> so that the jobs and industries of the future aren�t all going to
> China and India, but are being created right here in the United States
> of America."
> 
> Obama in January tapped Shah to head USAID. At the time of his
> appointment, Shah�whose experience in the development community
> included senior positions at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation�said
> the organization needed to focus more on helping developing nations
> build technology-based economies. "We need to develop new capabilities
> to pursue innovation, science, and technology," said Shaw, during his
> swearing in ceremony.
> 
> Sri Lanka's outsourcing industry is nascent, but growing as it begins
> to scoop up work from neighboring India.
> 
> In addition to homegrown firms, it's attracting investment from Indian
> outsourcers looking to expand beyond increasingly expensive tech hubs
> like Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. In 2007, consultants at A.T.
> Kearney listed the country as 29th on their list of the top 50 global
> outsourcing destinations.

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