[quote]Diane Morello, Research Director and VP at Gartner, Inc., estimates that “based on her preliminary calculations, at least 500,000 jobs will be lost to offshore outsourcing by the end of 2004.” Her company report also dimly states, “one out of 10 jobs in the US computer services and software sector could move overseas by the end of next year”. Furthermore, the study indicates that “while professionals in the computer industry will be especially hard-hit, IT jobs in other sectors such as banking, health-care, and insurance will also feel the impact, with one in 20 being exported to emerging markets such as Russia, India, or other countries in Southeast Asia.[/quote]
– dated 2003.
In reality, H1B visas are tightly rationed, to such an extent that the entire quota of H1B visas for a year is typically filled in a week. Outsourcing and offshoring is becoming increasingly less of a problem, because of a weakening dollar and strong economic growth in China, India and Russia. I think we have a few Indian and Chinese engineers here. Maybe they can tell us what the typical IT salary was in Bangalore (or Shanghai) in 1999 and what it is today.