In another gift to US tech workers, Microsoft is planning to
increase its presence in India:
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer is breaking ground next week on a project that would double the size of its new facilities in Hyderabad, India, a move that could heighten concerns about U.S. corporations' increasing use of technology workers overseas.
I'm happy for the Indians that will benefit from those jobs, but the process of economic osmosis will have a direct affect on my state's economy.
Microsoft has suspended work on a planned Issaquah Highlands campus and has given up options on 87 of the site's 150 acres.
The cascading effects of MS's move to oversea's programmers will ultimately filter down the food chain, and the suspension of the Highlands facility construction is just one example of this. In 2002, the Washington State legislature modified Washington's tax laws so that the bulk of Microsoft's revenue (licenses fees) would be subject to a lower B&O tax rate. How were the citizens of the state repaid for their largesse? Microsoft offers soothing words, but its no mystery they are looking to the cheaper labor of India to pad their profit margin. Thanks Steve.