I refuse to watch. Not in a million years. - Outsourced (2010) Discussion

[–] trippplethreat333 14 years ago

Calm down. First, Outsourcing is a problem, and that is undeniable. From what I can understand this isn't going to make fun of the people who did lose their jobs. If anything, it is going to make fun of the companies who laid off the employees, and I think it will do that quite a lot. The company is the bad guy in this. However, it is giving a human side to the Indian employees. Quite honestly, what is the problem with that? The people who received the outsourced jobs are human and have done nothing wrong. If you hate outsourcing, hate the people who took your job, not the people who received it. Outsourcing may be a horrible, disgusting thing, but uncalled for, ignorant discrimination is worse.

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[–] Noufa 14 years ago

Ignorant discrimination against the Okies? I don't think the OP has a racial axe to grind.

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[–] xanderificus 14 years ago

I guess that's what you get when you have job skills that makes you so easily replaceable.

Repeat after me, Mr. America:
"Would you like fries with that?"
"Would you like to supersize your order?"

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[–] captainofiron 13 years ago

lol so true

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[–] what_are_my_choices 14 years ago

You beat me to the post. I agree. I won't be watching this either, as my Wife has lost her job at AT&T to outsourcing. I don't care who they are making fun of. It's just plain wrong.

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[–] trippplethreat333 14 years ago

How is it wrong? This has been stated many times, but no one ever said why

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[–] A_Real_Hip_Dude 14 years ago

Triplethreat...you can't really be ignorant of the problems with outsourcing can you? I'm not going to explain it because I don't care to. There's already way too much political and racial talk on here for a movie site, but look it up man.

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[–] bgestwicki 14 years ago

Agreed....I don't understand how anyone can't figure out why a lot of people are mad at the idea of this show. It's a comedy making light of a huge issue our country needs to deal with. Want to keep our economy healthy? How about the friggin government helps keep jobs in America? American citizens can't pour cash into the economy if they're unemploymed because of outsourcing. Companies should be getting tax breaks for hiring american citizens, not foreign ones.

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[–] yukonbrownie7 12 years ago

Has it ever occurred to anyone that this show is an example of satirical media? The definition of satire is: the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc. Key words: irony, sarcasm, exposing. Ever heard of a book called The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn? That was an example of satire. So before you get enraged over something like a tv show, maybe stop and think a little first.

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[–] amwinn 14 years ago

I hope you guys never watch shows like "Weeds" because a drug dealing mom would be just wrong. Also, I hope you never watched "the Sopranos" b/c the mafia is an evil organization. Not to mention anyone who has ever lost a relative in a plane crash, you should not have watched "Lost."

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[–] wonko-7 13 years ago

Well, chronic binge-drinking is wrong too, but "Cheers" still ran for 7 years.

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[–] FrenchCelt 12 years ago

Cheers went for 11 seasons.

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[–] trippplethreat333 14 years ago

I know of the problems of outsourcing, my issue is with people calling the show wrong. The companies are at fault, not the people who receive the jobs. The companies will be ridiculed in the show. You need to be able to laugh at a situation somewhat, especially if it targets the people at fault.

"I'm a sex offender!" -GeniusIQ165

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[–] A_Real_Hip_Dude 14 years ago

Oh, ok, I thought you really meant that you didn't know what was wrong with the actual act of outsourcing. I think this may be good because they may poke fun at it and take jabs at the companies who do it. But if it becomes some "America needs to be more open-minded" Bulls**t, then I will definetly not watch it.

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[–] cente-815-847327 14 years ago

Why is outsourcing for cheaper labor bad anyway? Maybe if Americans didn't "need" so many things they could work for less money. But no, you probably have to have a house and fill it with useless crap so you think you should be paid a lot of money to answer a freaking phone. Hah. The trailer of the show doesn't look too funny though. I think a more funny show would be about the people who lost their jobs and instead of learning a skill that's in demand they cry about it all day and blame everyone else for their problems.

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[–] benjamincollins 12 years ago

I agreed with this post. And then laughed at it.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] fjm11516 14 years ago

UNIONS are to blame period. Unions had their place and time. The problem is they pushed too far. The companies that outcousced do so in order to stay in business so EVERYONE doesn;t lose their jobs.

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[–] ratapp 14 years ago

Really, boonya2? You are going to play the "it's your fault you don't have a white collar executive job" card are you? In your 1st point you show how ignorant YOU are. It's not just customer service jobs, all kinds of tech jobs from tech support to programming to network architecture, and even HR positions, are being outsourced. I have a degree, I also have 15 years experience in a specialized field and I am at risk of losing my job to someone overseas with much less experience.

Having said that I will probably check it out, I just hope it isn't stupid and predictable like a lot of comedies these days.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Lidocaineus 14 years ago

You people are all ridiculous. Outsourcing sucks - that's for sure. However humor is one of the best ways to take a look at a situation and see it from all sorts of angles; some are hilarious, some are sad, some are interesting, some are insightful. If you can't laugh at yourself or a situation you've been in (which clearly is a lot of people in this scenario) you have much bigger problems than just having lost your job.

Remember when all those assembly line workers were getting laid off because modernization replaced them all with robots? Should we give all those people jobs back? Well then your car is going to cost about twice as much now. Those cheap goods you buy at Target and Wal*Mart? There wouldn't BE a Wal*Mart without overseas cheap labor. Sorry folks, but globalization is a consequence of modern day life; people want cheap goods, but they don't want the consequences of that decision.

Again, I'm not saying it's a good OR bad thing - it's where we are, and complaining about the end result is like complaining about getting wet because you're standing in the rain. You want change? Effect it from where it matters - company decisions, how a company functions, where to toss the bottom line - not from stuff that comes AFTER the fact.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Lidocaineus 14 years ago

Your response is hilarious. Everywhere in my post I said that change comes from attempting to do so through action - lobbying companies, coming up with solutions to maintain jobs here, making the domestic workforce more competitive, etc. Instead YOUR solution is to boycott a sitcom? I think you're the one who has it backwards. Maybe if you stopped expending energy on boycotting something that could never ever effect change and focused on working in areas that actual have meaning you wouldn't be worried about your job.

And your comparison to rape is base and inapplicable. You can control and change companies, job situations, and competitiveness. You cannot change a psycho rapist intent on raping you (aside from the obvious).

What's even more ironic is that your nickname "Jay Gatsby" would laugh in your face at your posts. Gatsby was the ultimate capitalist.

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[–] moniquemark 14 years ago

This show looks hella funny

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[–] tdubbs431 13 years ago

haha you sound even more ignorant you portray yourself and these others as living on the streets and such but yet you troll the boards of imdb. I can assure you people who reallyy have an income and job situation aren't freely browsing the web so get over yourself you seem fine and this just falls a long with darwin only the strong survive. You got outsourced

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[–] mike-springs6 12 years ago

I know I'm really late on this post, but this is by far the best and most accurate post I've read on this thread!

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] say_whut 14 years ago

your post is based around weird assumptions. for now let's look at your statement "if a company called you and offered to hire you, chances are someone else lost their job." correct me if i'm wrong, but the logic behind that statement would be "most job openings are due to someone else being fired or laid off" which is something of a bizarre claim and all but counter-intuitive. layoffs are often due to downsizing (along with outsourcing as previously mentioned), but downsizing doesn't usually lead to a great number of job openings, at least not in the middle of a global recession. so that leaves employees fired for unethical conduct, and though that happens from time to time, it's not nearly as common as employees resigning for various reasons, maybe even retiring.
when i worked at a call center, i'm aware of maybe one person who was fired for doing something terrible. the job had high turnover because the majority of employees would quit. they hated their jobs for various reasons i'd assume. so yeah it's a nonsense point to say "whenever you get a new job the person who previously held that position was screwed over" unless it's specifically cause the job was outsourced to a place with a lower standard of living for cheaper labor.

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[–] nightblast 13 years ago

Guess what ratapp. When your job gets outsourced, it means an unemployed Indian gets employed. Hell, maybe even two since the wages are so much lower.

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[–] goldfish_dont_bounce 14 years ago

If your job was outsourced, you were probably getting paid way too much for what you were doing. Either learn to do something that can't be outsourced so easily or be prepared to accept lesser pay/benefits. Honestly, why do people here feel like they should get paid three times as much for doing the same job as someone else.

It's sad. I think our sense of self-entitlement will be our downfall.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] demigodsc 14 years ago

Actually, that's not even close to being true. I've had equally useless tech support anywhere I've called, whether the call center is based in Toronto, Detroit, or Mumbai. It just so happens that for useless support, the companies can cut costs (not a few hundred, to lay off locals for that would be spiteful, but millions). This is how companies stay as profitable as they are, especially in these economic times. The fat cats rake it in, sure; but to think that the quality goes down simply because the job is taken overseas is a silly stance to take. Also, as far as cheap labor causing recalls of food, even American beef was highly suspect not too long ago.

If people are willing to work for less to do the same work (and often, the same quality, regardless of how you see it), there's really no reason for companies to do otherwise. Unfortunately, that often hurts the local workers, but that's sadly a reality we have to deal with. It's gotten to be that new college graduates are unable to find openings, because those with 5+ years of experience are taking entry level positions (I found this out the hard way)... It happens.

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[–] TheAdvocator 14 years ago

"1. First off and foremost, if you would have gone farther in school and received a better education you would not have to worry about being outsourced in a customer service job."

Wow, what an ignorant and narrow-minded thing to say. I dated a girl who thought that whenever someone met hardship in their lives that it was their fault. When people lost their jobs, it was their fault because they didn't "prepare enough". That's what you sound like; a self-righteous 22-year-old ignorant spoiled brat.

"2. This is a comedy and it is based on the reality of what happens."

No one said this isn't based on outsourcing.... "The reality of what happens"? This is an NBC comedy it's going to completely embellish the reality of the situation.

"3. This was also a 2006 movie by the same name which is actually very good, I just watched it on NetFlix."

Okay, so you watched a movie that came out 4 years ago that not a lot of people saw then either. What's your point?

"4. Shut up and sit down clown"

I'm pretty sure he or she is sitting down considering they were at their computer while typing that. How about this; how about you come up with some actual pros for the show before speaking instead of just not acknowledging what people are saying about actual problems they have experienced in their own lives.

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[–] sweetsnowflake2 14 years ago

Here is the thing people don't get. Your one little job that you lose? It means several of others have gained, ESPECIALLY those outsourced to India. Please tell me what gives you entitlement to a job over others. Just because a company is started in the US doesn't mean it has to employ only Americans. So either take a lower wage (I know, GOD FORBID) or stop complaining. It sucks, but sometimes cutting off people getting paid way too much leaves room for creating so many more jobs, no matter where they are. In your case, more jobs still in the US!

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[–] Quanfa 14 years ago

The problem with this debate is almost every point of view is correct.

1. Companies have a right to be as profitable as possible and an obligation to their stockholders for the same. Because of that they can cut corners where they choose to in a manner that makes sense to them. The government doesn't need to step in and tell people how to run their companies (especially not a country in as much as debt as the US.) This will in many cases give rise to outsourcing.

2. Outsourcing is based on cost of a full-time employee. People in America demand a fair wage which the government enforces as a minimum allowable wage and people largely expect benefit options with their jobs. If a company elects to outsource your job all it means is they can get it done cheaper somewhere else.

3. People should be as educated as possible and cross train wherever they can to increase their own job security, but obviously things still happen. No job is guaranteed. The mark of a successful or resiliant person is not whether or not you've been laid off, but your ability to get another job if you get laid off. You may even have to move to another state, but the jobs are out there.

4. I don't see outsourcing as the same as machinery taking over a job - that's job redundancy and that's just being efficient. Still, see #3.

A solution to the problem as I see it is in the form of tax credits for keeping operations in the US and possibly tax penalties for moving operations out of country. On the flip side of that I think business taxes are out of control and those could be reduced by the federal government too.

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[–] demigodsc 14 years ago

The problem, sweetsnowflake2, is that the "lower wage" you're proposing isn't just a slight cut; often it's pennies on the dollar, which you simply cannot afford because cost of living in the US is so much higher. Similar jobs in San Francisco and New Delhi are a decent example; an average software engineer makes about 6k/mo in SF... but only about 2k in New Delhi. That might be comfortable in India, but finding a 1B1B apartment in SF usually costs almost the whole 2k. Also, losing one's job overseas is usually not made on a case-by-case basis; an individual might be willing to take a severe paycut; but they usually don't outsource just 1 job, they outsource hundreds.

Furthermore, when functions are outsourced, it typically only opens jobs at a management level (to interface between the teams in India and the US), so "creating many more jobs" is usually not something that applies to those who lost their jobs in the first place.

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[–] kitteninparis 14 years ago

When I saw the premise of this "comedy" I was completely discusted. I will never watch it.

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[–] idrow 14 years ago

You were discusted? Seriously? You live in a country where your lack of education affords you a TV, computer, internet access and based on your post, I'm betting a weekly 30-pack of Budweiser. Lighten up Francis and try to keep things in perspective. It's a 30 minute comedy. You'll get over it.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] barone2b 14 years ago

Anthony, you have so much anger in your post that I can't really see you in a CS position.

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