I feel the below is a bad idea. Not because I've been unemployed for more than a year now and more competition means that getting worse, but because the rich west brain draining the third world of their best and brightest is a particularly nasty form of exploitation.
They should be able to stay in their own countries who paid for their education and develop a competing industry and thus wealth generation at home. Of course, world trade rules are heavily biased against them doing that which is why illegal immigrants are flooding western borders. Many thanks globalisation! :(
Thoughts?
Cheers, Niall
http://www.contractoruk.com/cgi- bin/item.cgi?id=9213&d=193&h=220&f=223
70 countries sign up for completely free EU IT jobs market offer
Yes Please
Last week we reported that in the latest GATS negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade organisation, that the EU had made an offer to the other WTO members (here) to open its door to skilled IT people from other countries, provided those countries opened up their doors to our multi-national companies.
We referred to is as giving away the contents of the sweetie shop, whilst noting that this was just the EUs opening offer.
Well surprise, surprise. Theres been a huge uptake of this offer. Already over 70 of the 130 WTO member states have signed up for it.
Hello Boys
The offer was:-
In computer services, a sector that is key to the development of the Information Society in Europe, the Commission proposes to offer full market access to foreign service providers.
This should enable the EU to benefit from the best performing computer services at the lowest cost, with a view to fulfil our "Lisbon objectives" and have Europe become the most competitive society in the world.
The Commission's proposal addresses the interests of both developing countries that are seeking better access to our market and of EU countries that are in need for state-of-the-art computer services and IT infrastructure.
Foreign computer experts will for instance be allowed to provide maintenance and repair services for computer systems and networks in the EU.
Very Good Response
According to the EU:-
Out of the more than 130 WTO members, more than 70 have committed the sub-sectors "Computer and related" and "Other business", but only 46 have committed "Research & Development" and "Rental & Leasing", and only 28 WTO Members have entered commitments for "Real Estate services".
Its not surprising that so many countries have signed up to what seems a very generous offer, i.e. to open the EU market up completely to non-EU skilled IT workers.
Our industry appears to have been used as the bait to extract concessions from developing countries for our big companies.
According to the EU documents, the USA, Japan and Canada have made similar offers, so it looks as if it is globally coordinated.
India, for one, has said that the offer does not go far enough.
Still Time
The current GATS negotiations are not due to complete until early in 2005, and I presume they will be implemented soon after that.
However, between now and then there will have been an election in the US in November 2004, and there will have been elections in many of the EU states too.
These negotiations have not hit the headlines yet, but there is a growing reportage of the leak of skilled jobs offshore and of the numbers of people who are coming to the UK to replace UK workers.
This is not a done deal.
However it is a deal that the major countries, the developing countries, the major multi-nationals and the major IT consultancies want.
It remains to be seen what the people of the western countries think about it once it has been brought to their attention.
Gerry McLaughlin