Interested Parties
Indian voter: priority is American jobs
In our series "Interested Parties," we talk to voters about their economic concerns. Nandini Pandya came to the U.S. in 1983 to work as a computer programmer. She's been a citizen more than 10 years.
Nandini Pandya (Sean Cole / Marketplace)
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STACEY VANEK-SMITH: The elections are just around the corner. In our series, "Interested Parties," we talk to different voters about their economic concerns. Nandini Pandya came to the United States in 1983 to work as a computer programmer. She's been a citizen for more than 10 years and lives in Milford, Connecticut.
NANDINI PANDYA: I grew up in India. I lived there until my early 20s. I didn't have to go far to see people living with less, doing with less. So my politics is driven by making sure everybody has a chance at a living wage and a decent life. That, to me, is the priority.
Vis a vis the economy, I would like the next administration to at least accept that Americans have a right to expect to be employed in their own country. Until and unless we have consensus on that, we don't have a hope of coming up with policies that can make that happen.
I think government has a big role to play. To give you an example, if we did not have a minimum wage law, I have no doubt in my mind that employers would try to get people to work for less than the minimum wage.
I'm not necessarily saying that people in other places are ignorant or anything, but clearly we have a system where a lot of thought has gone into rectifying some of these things that we don't really think about. So, yes, government does have a role to play.
Comments
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From Baltimore, MD, 10/01/2008
I have worked in the American I.T. industry since I graduated from a midwestern college in the mid 70s. I am a 9th generation American and expected to work until retiring here. I can't say that I will be able to retire, or for that matter even have a job, because of Indian I.T. workers invading our shores in record numbers over the past decade.
We read about losing jobs to cheap labor overseas, but that same cheap labor is being imported by large multinational companies to the U.S. using H1B visas and other means to further undermine the American worker. Where does it end? When there are no consumers left in the U.S.? Fortunately, I hear they need skilled I.T. professionals in Europe…..
From Dayton, OH, 09/23/2008
I can remember my parents friends in manufacturing as that was allowed by political and business leaders to leave our shores. Get educated they were told. Now it's happening to in the IT industry for paltry 'savings'. The lions share will go to executives, not mutual funds who are the 'stock holders'. There is an indian doctor in this community who is opening a pain management clinic, he writes the scripts , but you will consult with a doctor in India. Every job can be outsourced. Yes, need text to make it searchable.
From Chicago, IL, 09/23/2008
People have this sort of "it hasn't happened to me yet" attitude regarding outsourcing. It will happen to every profession and it is moving quickly. Our country needs to wake up. This is the next thing we will be having senate meetings on. By the way the audio doesn't work on this podcast. You should also make it available in text.
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