A small frown in America

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 15:37:42 +0530 (IST)
From: N Sashikumar <sashi () civil iisc ernet in>
Subject: A small frown in America
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>


Dear Prof Dave,
 This article appeared in Times of India...
regards
sashi
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/496981.cms

A small frown in America
INDIASPORA/CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
[ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2004 08:45:27 PM ]

Clintwood , Virginia (population about 2,000), is not a town you will see
easily on a regular map of the United States . Nestling amid the
Appalachians on the Virginia-Kentucky border, it is what you would call
'boondocks' in city parlance, a place so remote that even the nearest big
cities, Johnson City and Lexington , barely register on the urban American
landscape. It is 98 per cent white. There are no Patels or Singhs. The
only Indians locals know are native Americans, who are 0.6 per cent of the
population. The economic and social indices of the town during the past
decade were dismal.

However, for the past three years, Clintwood rejoiced at having struck a
small economic bonanza. In 2001, the Internet company Travelocity decided
to locate a call centre here. Nothing big. It began with a 250-seat
customer service centre, but it provided a way out of the hardscrabble
existence for a community that for years depended on employment in the
area's dying coal mines and disappearing apparel industry. In time, the
call centre was to grow to a 500-seater, making Travelocity the largest
private employer in Dickenson County , where Clintwood is located. The
County went out of its way to embrace the newbie online firm, proud to
become even a minor techno blip in an America hooked on the Internet. It
gave tax breaks to Travelocity.

It forked out a $250,000 loan to expand the facility. The local
congressman rounded up $1.4 million in federal funding for a childcare
centre next to the call centre, with 45 of 107 slots promised to
Travelocity.

For 30 months, Clintwood and its Dickenson County Technology Park thrived.
Travelocity was the showpiece of white collar employment in blue collar
boonies. Young men and women (80 per cent) of backwoods USA found work
answering calls from all over the country in their sweet southern accents.
Life was good.

On Wednesday morning, it all ended quite unexpectedly. A senior
Travelocity executive informed them the call centre was being closed by
December. Travelocity lost $55 million last year and was falling behind
rivals such as Expedia, which were outsourcing such jobs abroad to cut
costs.

Travelocity had to follow suit, and send the jobs to India . Employees
would get some severance pay and there would be a few openings at
facilities in Texas and Pennsylvania . Otherwise, they had ten months to
figure out what to do.

There was shock and gasps as the announcement filtered through, a few sobs
and sniffles. Although they had heard of outsourcing, no one had seen it
coming to Clintwood. At $8 to $10 an hour, they were at the bottom end of
America 's salary scale. How much could the company save by moving the
jobs to India ? About $10 million a year, company officials said. The
arithmetic was a little more complicated than mere wages.

When I called Clintwood Mayor Donald Baker on Thursday, he accepted my
sympathies and queries with karmic calm. "We have been here before and we
will get through it," he said. The county was talking to two other telecom
companies to see if they wanted to come in and take over the facilities.

Will Mullins, 23, hopes they will. He was just beginning to enjoy white
collar service and does not fancy going back to the construction job that
paid him just above minimum wages ($5.50 an hour).

It's not just Wall Street and Silicon Valley which are stung by
outsourcing. Middle America is hurting too and that is why the politicians
are upset.

 

-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/