The Future of Outsourcing: (Part -1) who will win the talent war?

I was planning to do a comprehensive piece on this subject for quite some time ( for the last 3-4 months!!!) does not look like I'll get it all done, so here I am posting in pieces...


The United States is changing, the change was visible to any one watching the young and vibrant Obama rallies vs the monochromatic Republican rallies(?) with older citizens. This demographic shift in the make up of America, would have implications for outsourcing.

One of the challenges that US,Europe Japan and China face today is the changing demographics, especially the increase in the graying population. To maintain an aging population these economies need a critical mass of young educated work force. The critical question then becomes, where is this educated talent pool?

IT demand and supply: a hard look at the numbers

According to new data from the Computing Research Association, (an association of more than 200 North American academic departments of computer science, computer engineering, and related fields) in the fall of 2006, new computer science enrollments were at 7,840, and new enrollments are at 7,915 for the fall of 2007. Compare this with India and the contrast is stark.
Per NASSCOM, (India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies) India produced 575,000 engineers in 2007, of which 193,000 were Computer Science graduates. Despite debates on quality of the education, the sheer numbers do point to the magnitude of the talent gap.

The Professional services sector in US is expected to create 5 million jobs by 2016 a growth of 16.7percenatge.Computer and mathematical science occupations are projected to add 822,000 jobs by 2016 —at 24.8 percent growth, the fastest growing segment among professional subgroups.( http://www.bls.gov/)

To keep the US growth engine growing it is imperative that we find folks in the productive age group to work and to contribute towards taxes and social programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

The economy has to create jobs; however a critical mass of educated workforce is also required to take on those jobs. Education and immigration reform in US need to be addressed with the talent war in perspective.


I will be discussing how Education and Global Immigration Reform would play a role in addressing the talent shortage and the future of outsourcing.