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Kyle BondsCamp Hill, Pennsylvania Bonds, 44, was a contractor at IBM when he heard rumors of work moving abroad. Figuring his job could be next, he took a lower-paying but more secure post elsewhere. "If I had stayed, you would be talking to a truck driver with a waitress wife." |
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Myra BronsteinMercer Island, Washington Bronstein, a software engineer, says she had to train her offshore replacements herself or risk losing her severance package and unemployment eligibility. "My industry just crashed and burned. I think it's shortsighted to try and get another job in this field." |
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Charles BuhrmannGreenville, Texas Before his position went to Canada, Buhrmann was a contractor for an insurance company's policy management system. Now he designs Web sites part-time for $8.50 an hour. "If they're going to offer a job overseas for half the pay, why not offer it to the person here?" |
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Melissa ChartersLos Angeles, California Charters had 15 years of experience in IT when her job as a system security administrator was outsourced, then offshored to India. She's becoming a home-economics teacher. "How can our country's information stay secure when it's all being done over there?" |
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Lidia EstesBedford, Texas Estes, 55, learned her job managing programmers with Computer Horizons was going to be offshored in late 2002. Now, the woman who has worked in IT since she was 19 sells Mary Kay Cosmetics. "I don't know what to do. This has been my whole life." |
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Linda EvansMatthews, North Carolina In 2002, Evans's programmer husband was laid off and forced to train his Indian replacements. A new employer threatened to fire him after he was interviewed by a local paper. "We never feel safe. When he gets called in for review, he thinks, 'This is it--it's all over today.' " |
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From Issue 81 | April 2004
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