Cheapening skills

[japancool]

OK, this is a bit of a rant.

I had a quick look at some database contracts on Freelancer.co.uk. So some guy wants an order and inventory management system written with data collection through mail as email attachments...

And he wants it for £130. WTF, pardon my French. You'd make more money stacking shelves at Tesco, for the amount of work and support that would involve.

Some other fellow wants an MS Access runtime app converted to a webapp, with subscription service, user rights management, admin portal, presumably payment integration and data migration for £1100.

And of course, there are people in India or Bulgaria or wherever bidding for these jobs. This is utterly ridiculous. The amount of time and effort it takes to acquire IT skills and some idiot does it for peanuts, and builds an expectation that this is what the work is worth.

Anyone who takes on these jobs is really cheapening the whole skillset for everyone.

 

[The Byre]

If your job is not geographical and could be done anywhere on Planet Earth, someone in India or wherever sets the scale.

Soon all sorts of jobs that we think of as a sure bet will go that way - doctors, lawyers, truck drivers, teachers - not just IT-based stuff like web design and layout artists, but every technical, intellectual, skill-based task you can think of.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Anyone who takes on these jobs is really cheapening the whole skillset for everyone.

Welcome to the world of globalisation.

Where it is leading is a world where a lot of things are no longer done well or new. What we now think of being a new skilled technology, electric cars for instance, are using patents which expired in the seventies. Only the batteries are new. The Japanese Bullitt train dates from 1964 and we in the UK are only just starting to adopt the technology.

Skills and expertise are not rated vary highly.

 

[RedEvo]

I'm not sure Eddie Stobart is going to outsource a truck getting driven down the M6 to someone in India. Mind you, perhaps the technology's not that far away

But seriously, it does make sense to concentrate on skills that are not easy to offshore.

d

 

[japancool]

I'm not sure Eddie Stobart is going to outsource a truck getting driven down the M6 to someone in India. Mind you, perhaps the technology's not that far away

Perhaps not, but soon he won't need human drivers at all.

 

[deanpunchard]

Have you ever tried dealing with these companies offering services at this price? At my last company we outsourced some work to a Chinese firm, and I spent more time unpicking their errors and sending amends back than it would have taken for me just to have done the work. Lesson very much learnt.
My advice, stay away from freelancer, peoplerperhour, etc. They simply compete on price, not value.

 

[Deleted member 226268]

If your job is not geographical and could be done anywhere on Planet Earth, someone in India or wherever sets the scale.

Soon all sorts of jobs that we think of as a sure bet will go that way - doctors, lawyers, truck drivers, teachers - not just IT-based stuff like web design and layout artists, but every technical, intellectual, skill-based task you can think of.

.


Maybe in 10 years, Elon Musk will ensure that there will be millions of driver-less trucks and vans running around.

Another complete skill-set lost, no more truck / van drivers.
Along with coal miners, steel workers, lace-makers up at t' mills.

Skills at anything seem to be a dying commodity, you don't seem to have to be skilled any more to have the highest paying jobs.

Footballers
Boxers
Pop stars
£ 200,000 a week = No intellect or even a brain required.

Politicians = only need to be good at telling convincing porkies.

Hospital consultants and management =
Paid £ lots, but no one knows what for.


At the lower end of the pay scale >>>>

Highly Skilled computer programmers, mechanical designers,
Architects, etc. = all ten a penny these days.
All fighting for the same jobs ..need second shelf-stacking job to survive.

Too much competition from people in India and China.
The down-side of the world's internet.
.

 

[japancool]

Have you ever tried dealing with these companies offering services at this price? At my last company we outsourced some work to a Chinese firm, and I spent more time unpicking their errors and sending amends back than it would have taken for me just to have done the work. Lesson very much learnt.

I haven't. Given that I can barely understand what some of them have written, and they're posting estimated prices for jobs based on a 2 line description, it doesn't fill me with confidence.

My advice, stay away from freelancer, peoplerperhour, etc. They simply compete on price, not value.

I know that and you know that. But Joe Mug the cheap business owner doesn't know that.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Hospital consultants
Paid £ lots, but no one knows what for.

Talking to a heart consultant near neighbour recently pointed out that it is hard physical work. He had just had his second Carpal Tunnel operation.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

OK, this is a bit of a rant.

I had a quick look at some database contracts on Freelancer.co.uk. So some guy wants an order and inventory management system written with data collection through mail as email attachments...

And he wants it for £130. WTF, pardon my French. You'd make more money stacking shelves at Tesco, for the amount of work and support that would involve.

Some other fellow wants an MS Access runtime app converted to a webapp, with subscription service, user rights management, admin portal, presumably payment integration and data migration for £1100.

And of course, there are people in India or Bulgaria or wherever bidding for these jobs. This is utterly ridiculous. The amount of time and effort it takes to acquire IT skills and some idiot does it for peanuts, and builds an expectation that this is what the work is worth.

Anyone who takes on these jobs is really cheapening the whole skillset for everyone.

Japan I don't know what hell you on are about but understand everything about your point .

While I know nothing about your industry it is happening all across the board in every industry
In the past if you stayed in a hotel in London the staff would help with advise and directions now they don't have the skills to help . The taxi driver if not a black cab wont actually understand his job because he follows the electronic map it goes on and on
I changed a cambelt yesterday found a problem that a modern mechanic would not understand
Everything is done with a lack a skill
This diverts slightly from you thread but the lack of skill normally reflects the low price this is something you may discover later should you wish to work with this person

 

[deanpunchard]

If you're not filled with confidence by their responses , do you think the clients are either?

 

[japancool]

If you're not filled with confidence by their responses , do you think the clients are either?

Clearly they are, because they're paying for these jobs.

 

[deanpunchard]

Then they're shit clients, and not worth worrying over.

Personally for my UK clients, I'm always available to chat, willing to travel all over the country to make sure what I deliver is spot on. Indian, Chinese, ect firms can't offer that. That's where some of my added value is.