No tax money for offshore jobs

[Sparx]

NO TAX $ FOR OFFSHORE JOBS--The fight against moving jobs
offshore is heating up on Capitol Hill. The Senate on March 4
passed 70-26 an amendment that would bar some federal contract
work from being performed overseas. The amendment to S. 1637 was
introduced by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), and, among other
things, would stop contractors from moving government work
offshore that once was done by federal employees. S. 1637,
backed by the Bush administration, would expand tax breaks that
encourage companies to move offshore. The AFL-CIO has called for
the bill to be recrafted to give additional incentives to keep
domestic manufacturing in the United States.

 

[Larry Gude]

Anyone had their job...

...moved offshore?

Anyone know anyone who has?

I'd like to find out what kind of jobs have left and why. Not anecdotes, real examples.

 

[Christy]

I read an article a LONG time ago about companies moving their phone in customer service jobs to places like Ireland because it was difficult to fill the positions in the US with customer friendly employees. :shrug:

 

[Bruzilla]

I'm kind of in the midst of this right now. The work that I've been doing for the Navy is going to be moved to The Netherlands and will be performed by the Dutch Navy, so I'm looking at being layed off on March 26th. Am I upset about that? Not in the least. It makes a lot more sense for the Dutch to do that work for their Navy, and in their own country, than to pay twice as much to have an American do it over here.

As I've said before, I'm a Pittsburgher, and I have a lot of first-hand experience in what happens when the best-intentioned trade protectionist policies trash a business. The government and the unions protected the steel workers in Pittsburgh right into unemployment. Worse, they caused the collapse of the entire industry and handed it to the Japanese and Germans... the very folks they were working against. You can fight the free enterprise system, but in the end, free enterprise will always win.

I guess I could sit here and pi$$ and moan about my plight, or call the House and ask Hoyer to stand up for my rights to work for The Dutch. Or, I can take the valuable experience that I gained from this job, merge it with my other skills, and go find another job. As an old co-worker once told me... "I was looking for a job when I found this one, and I'll be looking for a job when I find the next one."

So, here's my plan: My wife and I have saved up enough money to move ourselves to Florida and go without a paycheck for three or so months. Plus, I've found out that my MD unemployment benefits will travel with us, so that'll extend our savings out even further. I'm sure that I can find a good job in that amount of time, and then I'll be out of the Liberal den of Maryland, paying no state or county taxes, and enjoying a much lower cost of living. Sure beats the heck out of hoping that Steny Hoyer forces some foreign customer to pay twice as much to do business with the US of A.

 

[vraiblonde]

Originally posted by Bruzilla
So, here's my plan:

I'm totally jealous! But I hope you'd come post with us still - I'd miss you if you were gone.

 

[Bruzilla]

Of course I'll keep posting... this is one of the best forums that I've found yet. You don't get banned for being honest... unlike some sites we know.

Here's why we decided to relocate to Florida:

1. No state or county income taxes
2. 50% reduction in real estate costs
3. Bono's BBQ (it's the best!)
4. Insta-Check gun purchases on all guns
5. Legal to keep loaded handgun in the car (dang few car jackings or ATM robberies down in Florida)
6. Plan to attend UF and become a genuine Fighting Gator (albeit a middle-aged one)
7. Daytona Beach is 90 minutes away
8. Shark fishing is funner than Rockfish fishing
9. If it's going to be hot and humid anyway, it's better to have quick access to the Atlantic Ocean instead of dodging jelly fish in the Patuxent River
10. No vehicle inspections (emissions or equipment)
11. Three more battleground votes for George W. Bush come November

About the only thing in Maryland that I'll miss is the snow... and that hasn't been that great either.