Have you ever wanted to be a programmer? I did. Back in 1984, I was “afraid” of the Apple computers sitting in the back of the classroom gathering dust. They seemed so complicated. At the same time I thought it would be cool to write computer languages, but I didn’t think I was smart enough.
Writing computer code for a living probably lost prestige a long time ago. Now it seems those and other tech jobs are being outsourced to the point where college kids are rethinking their career plans:
As an eager freshman in the fall of 2001, Andrew Mo’s career trajectory seemed preordained: He’d learn C++ and Java languages while earning a computer science degree at Stanford University, then land a Silicon Valley technology job. The 22-year-old Shanghai native graduated this month with a major in computer science and a minor in economics. But he no longer plans to write code for a living, or even work at a tech company.Mo begins work in the fall as a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group, helping to lead projects at multinational companies. Consulting, he says, will insulate him from the offshore outsourcing that’s sending thousands of once-desirable computer programming jobs overseas.
More important, Mo believes his consulting gig is more lucrative, rewarding and imaginative than a traditional tech job. He characterized his summer programming internships as “too focused or localized, even meaningless.”(Source)
Programming used to be geek territory, but with open source platforms like WordPress, even I know how to write code. And I’m not even that smart!
This is a little off-topic, but the story reminds of a Dell commercial that left me flabbergasted. I have a Dell desktop, and I’ve had to call support a few times. The first time I called, I couldn’t understand what the guy (Indian?) was saying. I’d heard that American businesses were outsourcing these kind of jobs, but my ears were unprepared. The other times I called, I got someone who had a better grasp of the English language.
So when I see this Dell commercial, I’m wondering if I misheard the word “Dell.” The support person was a white, Midwestern-looking guy with an all-American accent answering questions and cracking jokes. For shame!, I said to myself. Why don’t these computer companies make commercials with the kind of people who really answer support calls? Who do they think they’re fooling?
