Dear God. I’ve found this the other day: http://www.sea-code.com/. This company has presented a project were they land a boat in international waters, just 5 kms away from US coast, and fill it with lots of programmers. Their proposal is that you get the same price as you did when hiring offshore developers from India, but have them 5 minutes away. Being in international waters, jobs there would not be under the US Labour Legislation umbrella. So, everybody wins, they say.
Today I sent this email to them, which I want to show you:
I feel truly disgusted. Every time I read your company statements I cannot believe my eyes. One would think that slavery thinking would've been wiped out from most so-called human minds by today, 2005. But it appears that business and reality still have a way to shock us. I've got an idea that could improve your already popular project: why not chain them to their chairs, and say amongst your benefits: "with our exclusive Stay-In-Business philosophy we guarantee our clients 24 hours of constant development. We asure our customers that no programmer will be asleep, since among their daily meal they get a Stay-UpTM pill that prevents them from sleeping." But don't worry, I've got others: "Let your offshore code be 100% bug free. After years of research we have found the only way to prevent bugs from appearing on systems that are developed by SeaCode programmers: every bug gets punished by three wipes on the programmer's naked body. We have proven that this treat-punishment software development methodoly reduces bug appearance to an absolute zero in just three sessions of punishment!"
Wake up to reality, please. I beg of you. America has sold itself as the land of the free. At least that is what one can see on American movies and series. I do not see how putting a bote in international waters (to avoid US labour legislation), filling it with hundred of programmers, and then claiming (as you do on your website): " SeaCode brings already offshored jobs back to the U.S. and assures that 90 cents of every dollar from our clients stays in the U.S. instead of flowing to foreign locations." can actualy be an example of a business from the so-called Land of the Free. Give me a break.
I cannot avoid feeling sorry and ashamed for the poor programmers who are willing to suffer that kind of treatment to get jobs. You are taking advantage of their situation. So, why not taking advantage of kids as well? Go to Vietnam or some other country, drop some bucks there so local government would allow you to implement your next-in-line project: "Seacode presents a new concept in offshore development: Programmer to the bones. We take recently borned infants from around the world, teach them how to program from day one, and we assure our customers that they will be productive as soon as they turn 6 years of age. No other company can give you the kind of employee fidelity that we offer. Don't wait until they have a degree, don't let their personal lifes get in the way. With Programmer to the bones, they won't have a personal life!"
Things like this can only let you arrive to the conclusion that we have not improved even one step, we seem to be walking backwards.
Related posts:
A Momentary Lapse of Reason [Member] wrote:
I was going to make a joke, but I feel so sick about that SeaCode company that I won’t.
It is so disgusting the sole idea of bringing back slavery to the world that I will only say to the people that might want to work there because they feel they have no better chances: “Please don’t. You are so much worthy than that; do not let others make money by taking your life away!”
And to the owners of that horrendous idea: “Stuff IT!”
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anon wrote:
I think that company is defunct. I met the CEO years ago and he said they paid the Indian workers something like 3x what they would make in India, so it sounds like they were (or would have been) compensated for living on a ship.
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mariano wrote:
@anon: it’s very sad that the CEO gave you the level of compensation as an excuse for that kind of treatment. So, if I get paid enough is OK for someone to, say, whip me while im working? I’m of course not comparing whipping to a boat, but the whole idea, and worst they way they sold their services, makes you sick, regardless if they make 3 times what they make in India…
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