U.S. programmer outsources own job to China, surfs cat videos

[csziggy]

NOT the Onion!

U.S. programmer outsources own job to China, surfs cat videos
By Ramy Inocencio, for CNN
updated 12:33 AM EST, Thu January 17, 2013

After a U.S.-based "critical infrastructure" company discovered in 2012 its computer systems were being accessed from China, its security personnel caught the culprit ultimately responsible: Not a hacker from the Middle Kingdom but one of the company's own employees sitting right at his desk in the United States.

<SNIP>

Investigators then discovered Bob had "physically FedExed his RSA token to China so that the third-party contractor could log-in under his credentials during the workday," wrote Andrew Valentine, a senior forensic investigator for Verizon.

Bob had hired a programming firm in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang to do his work. His helpers half a world away worked overnight on a schedule imitating an average 9-to-5 workday in the United States. He paid them one-fifth of his six-figure salary, according to Verizon.

And over the past several years, Bob received excellent performance reviews of his "clean, well written" coding. He had even been noted as "the best developer in the building."

More: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/17/business/us-outsource-job-china/

I'm surprised Verizon didn't give Bob a promotion for this!

[Speck Tater]

1. It's telling that the best "American" programmer is Chinese.

There was a time when WE were number one. Now we're passing number 35 and still on our way down.

[csziggy]

2. He paid an entire team of Chinese programmers

And still cleared hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep for himself. To me, that is offensive. It's as if the Chinese programmers were his personal slaves, working to support him in style.

[NoOneMan]

4. Isn't this just a more concrete, small scale example of how our economy actually works?

[Speck Tater]

5. All he did was cut out the middle man.

Most Americans have dozens of third world slaves working for them, you and me included. All he did was cut out the middle man. The rest of us prefer to pretend we aren't living high on the exploitation of cheap foreign labor. We can hide from it by buying from a nice, clean, brightly-lit WalMart, or Sears, or whatever, and let the big bad corporation do the actual dirty work. To me, that is offensive.

We are an empire and we survive on tribute paid in labor by slaves around the world. There's no way around that. I'm just sorry I didn't think of his trick before I retired from programming! Now I can only exploit indirectly via the WalMart slave brokers. I guess that will have to do. (No, I don't favor slavery. I just recognize the reality of it, and I'm not about to sacrifice my privileged position when none of my fellow Americans are willing to join me.)

[csziggy]

12. You're right - we need to get back to making stuff ourselves

Either individually or the entire country!

Or better yet, require that imported items be made by labor that is paid fair wages and benefits. The WORLD needs to require that. But as long as the planet is being managed by corporations, wages will be as low as they can force them and benefits only a dream for most workers.

[jeff47]

10. No, he's a whole bunch of Chinese

It's really easy to be the "best" single programmer when there's actually 5 people doing the work.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

3. That. Is. Amazing.

[VanillaRhapsody]

6. I am literally ROFLMAO...and SMDH wonder..

why the freak I didn't think of that!

[Victor_c3]

7. too bad I can't outsource my job like that.... n/t

[Glassunion]

8. Bob failed at one thing, and this is why he was fired.

He wasn't aware of the rule that only corporations can outsource.

What he should have done is go to management, explain how they could save the money by outsourcing all of their programming to China, then manage the transition and act as corporate liaison to the foreign slave labor. He could have added another decimal place to his paycheck.

Stupid Bob.

[Fumesucker]

9. You are assuming that management would reward the person who came up with the idea

In my experience that assumption runs from moderately naive to downright laughable depending on the particular management involved.

Management is always concerned with internal politics before external business, in a corporation of any size a new idea like that would trigger a take-no-prisoners power struggle for who gets the plum job(s).

I bet Bob knew exactly what would happen if he took his proposal to management and played the hand he was dealt as best he could.

[csziggy]

11. What he "should" have done is to become an independent contractor

Then hired the Chinese programmers to do the work, reaping the profits from their labor.

Corporate would have been fine with that and Bob could still have spent his days surfing cat videos.