Mark Walsh

London

Consultant

Absolute Rubbish...
Don't believe the words of a man who became the 'UK's first internet billionaire', how did he get there? I am quite sure it was on the backs of his workforce, by paying low wages and keeping them low. This latest rouse sounds like a nasty little word which should never rear its ugly head, never mind in the UK, and even more so in the IT industry, the work being EXPLOITATION.
IT wages have virtually stood still over the last decade at best while other industries healthily climb (we should have all became a builders shouldn't we). Why, the absolutely unnecessary introduction of cheap labour, people from abroad that have been already trained or have the relevant qualifications, but that are usually not any better, and very often worse than than the workers they are replacing, but they are cheap. And yes they are 'replacing' workers not filling jobs that are currently impossible to fill, this is total nonsense.
We have all been shafted over the last decade by this stance, negotiated by 'industry leaders' like Mike Lynch, and agreed by the seemingly blindfolded government, and here we go again, just as the market is starting to pick up again (not a coincidence methinks). It is people like Mike Lynch whom have the most to gain financially and the fact that Mr Lynch has become a billionaire over a very short period of time is substantial proof that he could easily afford to pay his staff a very healthy wage and still make a decent living. The shouts of 'we don't have the skills here' just don't wash, this is blatant abuse of the system to bring in cheap labour and push down the industry wages.
Companies just need to look at keeping their staff skill sets up to date, investment and promotion from with the ranks, rather than always going for the cheap option, quality does count in the long term, and home grown quality even more so, as surely it does not make sense to have highly skilled, highly qualified IT professionals forming long queues outside our unemployment benefit offices, so that immoral companies can import yet another person from abroad just to save a few pounds in the short term.
Look at what this attitude has done for the NHS, nurses wages pushed down so low that very few home grown workers will apply for these positions, even though they have the passion to care for us, resulting in the majority of NHS workers being imported from abroad and being exploited on these low wages, not being able to live near their work places, and perhaps having to work 2 or 3 jobs, all of this resulting in a drain on the 3rd worlds medical recourses, which is now a pressing issue for these countries.
Wait till this attitude starts spreading to government jobs or the legal or financial professions, perhaps only then we will see the backlash against these immoral practices.