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30 May 2005
SA should perhaps look at the work ethics of India Although there are claims emanating from an increasing number of countries laying claim to being the "kings of outsourcing", India still holds the distinction of being ranked as the most desirable outsourcing destination - especially when it comes to IT offshoring. Countries such as China, Eastern Europe and the Philippines are certainly becoming major players in IT offshoring, but India still has the edge over other countries because it has phenomenal support of the government - and has a huge pool of talent to tap into. Eric Wadsworth, CEO of specialised business processing outsourcer, eQuals group (PTY) Ltd (eQuals), the SA subsidiary of UK-listed The Innovation Group plc(TiG), said South African can offer a higher level of skills than India, but our cost of labour is "unfortunately higher". "Right now the sustained strength of the Rand has not made things easier. However, besides India's large pool of talent, one of the biggest things working in their favour is that the Indian government is making huge concessions in order to attract outsourcing business for local companies. And has for some time. They have taken what the Irish government did in the 1980s and 1990s one step further," he said. "It is a pity that we get very little support from government in terms of private public partnerships, wage and tax concessions," he said. Quoted in a recent press article, Wipro chairman Azim Premji, said that India churns out 50 000 engineering graduates each year. Its roll call of clients, meanwhile, includes the likes of Microsoft, Prudential, the Scottish Parliament, Nokia and a host of other hi-tech companies from around the globe. "On the downside," said Wadsworth, "there is still a massive amount of poverty in India - far, far more than in SA. Jobs in IT and software development are sought after in India and wage demands are not as vociferous as in this country. our workers seem to have a culture of cutting off their noses to spite our faces. Workers, here, will often jeopardise their jobs and the industry in which they work over a one or two percent point rise in salaries. If they demand 8% and their employer offers only 6%, they are apt to strike. Especially in a low inflation environment this is a negative cultural phenomenon - it happens far less in India." Org Geldenhuys, a director of Pretoria-based executive search and IT recruitment company, Abacus Recruitment, said SA's "somewhat unique hiring practises" are also causing an impediment in its ability to rise up and "become a truly global outsourcing player". "Due to our difficult legacy we are spending - as an economy - an inordinate amount of time and money trying to train a larger pool of people who were formally excluded due to discriminatory political practises. What is also happening is that, due to this transient period, we are also finding it hard to fill vacancies in many industries because there is a call to fill as many posts with previously disadvantaged individuals. While this is admirable, it does mean that we are sometimes batting with one arm tied behind our backs." |