I normally don’t post stuff written by others but I just had to share this one.

It’s from Slashdot.org and sums up my experience with outsourcing to India really well.

Hello there!
Please refer to your opening on job posting site. I, Rajesh Sharma, would like to apply for the job.[…]My hourly rates are $ 9 USD.
We all like to pretend this isn’t here and it isn’t happening, but I would say conservatively half the job market has disappeared in 10 years due to this currency/standard of living imbalance.

There’s another reality: it’s really, really hard to manage projects in India. I have tried this for a number of projects, and have learned the following things:

  • A day before the deadline, Rajesh will ask for more time
  • Halfway through the project, Rajesh will ask for more money
  • Rajesh will not give the source, as was agreed
  • Rajesh will not use unit tests, or Subversion, as was agreed
  • Rajesh cannot be bothered to provide an estimate or a planning
  • Rajesh will take on other projects and give priority to those before yours
  • Rajesh actually has a day job and just does projects on the side
  • Rajesh will tell you he takes a holiday for three weeks, starting tomorrow
  • Rajesh has a wedding of a brother, a pregnant sister, a sick father, etc and cannot make the planning
  • Rajesh will ask for more money at the end of the project
  • Rajesh cannot be reached because he lost his mobile
  • Rajesh cannot be reached because his mobile was stolen
  • Rajesh cannot be reached because his mobile its battery is empty
  • Rajesh cannot be reached because the e-mail server is down
  • Rajesh cannot be reached because the internet is down

Each and every project, I have had the above things. There are lots of ways around the above, but the main thing is that it’s very hard.

Pic is related

Programmer Kitty