University of California hires India-based IT outsourcer, lays off tech workers
The University of California is laying off a group of IT workers at its San Francisco campus as part of a plan to move work offshore. The layoffs will happen at the end of February, but before the final day arrives the IT employees expect to train foreign replacements from India-based IT services firm HCL. The firm is working under a university contract valued at $50 million over five years… This layoff affects 17% of UCSF’s total IT staff… In 2004, California lawmakers approved legislation prohibiting state and local entities from offshoring work, but the bill was vetoed by then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger… In 2003, one year before Schwarzenegger’s veto, a UCSF outsourcing contract made the news. A medical transcriptionist in Pakistan threatened to expose patient records unless she was paid more.
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by Patrick Thibodeau, Computerworld.