"Fury rises at Disney over use of foreign workers"

[JaxDad]

I wonder if some of the recent system issues reported here are the result of turnover in the Disney IT department...

http://www.computerworld.com/articl...es-at-disney-over-use-of-foreign-workers.html

 

[nilla]

This is all too common in the IT world, and rarely ever produces the results companies are looking for. You lose expertise and the benefits of a cohesive team when you dump your long-time employees in favor of contractors, foreign or domestic.

 

[Ambear]

I think it's particularly insulting when the laid off employee has to train their replacement.

I worked with a young guy from India who studied and lived in America and he said the skill level there is extremely low quality. I'm sure there are a lot of exceptions in a country with a billion people haha, but still it's sad companies only care about saving money here and not their employees OR their users.

 

[rwdavis2]

I wonder if some of the recent system issues reported here are the result of turnover in the Disney IT department...

http://www.computerworld.com/articl...es-at-disney-over-use-of-foreign-workers.html

System issues, mainly web presence, has been an issue with Disney since they first created a web site. Making an assumption based on Imagineer salaraies, they don't pay that well. So hiring cheaper foreign labor fits their model.

 

[Josh Hendy]

This article is a hatchet job. "Fury Rises" says the headline. But read the article carefully. There is nobody named or quoted in the article who is furious. The laid-off workers are obviously unhappy but "rising fury" ? Sounds like the author's wishful thinking.

The outsourcing of jobs to places like India and the in-sourcing of jobs with H1B visas are controversial. But it's a 20+ year old controversy and Disney is a very small fish in the IT wars.

It makes for a more catchy headline to pick on a highly visible company like Disney rather than a giant IT company with an anonymous-sounding acronym for a name. "If it bleeds and it has a cartoon character for a mascot ... it leads."

 

[wallrock]

I wonder if some of the recent system issues reported here are the result of turnover in the Disney IT department...

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2915904/it-outsourcing/fury-rises-at-disney-over-use-of-foreign-workers.html

Coming from a 20-plus year veteran of the IT world I can tell you that this kind of switch up is hardly beneficial in the long run. While there may be some solid skillsets coming from offshore groups (and there are some good ones), many don't understand 'how things work' over here - the cultural difference can have a big impact. Another issue is the lack of vested interest. Overseas providers are looking to get paid and interpret actions and responses literally. They seldom know the difference between application A and application B or how one may be infinitely more critical to the business than the other. The actual employees know the difference and know where to put the emphasis should something go wrong. Take that talent out of the equation and you're bound to have problems.

 

[tjkraz]

I wonder if some of the recent system issues reported here are the result of turnover in the Disney IT department...

Then how do we rationalize system issues which occurred prior to January 2015?

 

[mom2rtk]

Then how do we rationalize system issues which occurred prior to January 2015?

 

[larryz]

Glad I sold my stock.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Glad I sold my stock.

If they don't split it - which it seems unlikely - it's getting in the "dump" range

 

[lockedoutlogic]

System issues, mainly web presence, has been an issue with Disney since they first created a web site. Making an assumption based on Imagineer salaraies, they don't pay that well. So hiring cheaper foreign labor fits their model.

This is 100% correct

 

[cjparker0110]

Unfortunately this is not just an IT trend. This is the America way any more. If there is a way to hire cheaper workers, a company will do it. That is why when there are mergers they like to get rid of long term employees that have experience and hire newbies that can be paid less and be told what to do. That is also why 50% of Americans are expected to be on food assistance programs (food stamps, EBT cards) at some point in their lives. The culture of corporations in this country is to hire cheap labor at the bottom and pay huge at the top. It's a sad reflection of the greed which is rampant in this world. I honestly think many of the issues we face in this country would be stopped if execs would be willing to make a little less and pay a little more to other people. No, I don't think McDonald's burger flippers should make more than a soldier...yes, I do think that someone who works their way into a 2nd or 3rd level manager position in a large store should make more than $13/hr.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

It's the manifestation of a ridiculously naive, greedy, disasterous economic philosophy of about 40
Years ago that we as a culture can't let die... For the betterment of everyone.

 

[wysterial]

Then how do we rationalize system issues which occurred prior to January 2015?

Yup, IT has always sucked at Disney

 

[Disney Von Drake]

This is information technology, not rocket science. There are plenty of IT contractors in India that can do the job for far less money. iPhones are assembled in China to keep costs down. IT work can easily be subcontracted out to the lowest bidder.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Just because they can sub it out doesn't mean they should........The days of moving job off shore has been slowing because companies are finding out China steal all their techno information and systems. They pay absolutely no attention to the contracts they sign.

My hope is this move bitesIger really hard.


AKK

 

[tjkraz]

Just because they can sub it out doesn't mean they should........

True...but the trials and tribulations of Disney IT have been well documented.

I've worked in IT for 20+ years and am usually pretty forgiving of bugs and glitches in any major transition. But Disney has tested even my own patience the longer these issues have dragged on.

It's difficult for me to defend any change in Disney's IT staffing when the incumbents obviously weren't doing an effective job. If their systems were in better shape, it's entirely possible this would have been a non-issue.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

True...but the trials and tribulations of Disney IT have been well documented.

I've worked in IT for 20+ years and am usually pretty forgiving of bugs and glitches in any major transition. But Disney has tested even my own patience the longer these issues have dragged on.

It's difficult for me to defend any change in Disney's IT staffing when the incumbents obviously weren't doing an effective job. If their systems were in better shape, it's entirely possible this would have been a non-issue.

I do concede your point on Disney IT, they do seem to need a revamp of the entire IT services.........my point was shipping the jobs overseas and China theft of intellectual property.

AKK

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Just because they can sub it out doesn't mean they should........The days of moving job off shore has been slowing because companies are finding out China steal all their techno information and systems. They pay absolutely no attention to the contracts they sign.

My hope is this move bitesIger really hard.


AKK

Woah, Tonk...

Do you not often support the operation at wdw/ strategy?

That's the same thing...higher prices/lower costs for the same or cheaper crap...in essence...

I'm Confused?

 

[lugnut33]

The next big target for H1-B wage erosion efforts will be engineers. Companies like Caterpillar are looking to bring in huge amounts of foreign engineers on those visas so they can cut costs.