Commentary

ìUnpatrioticî

German Chancellor Gerhard SchrË?der’s condemnation of corporate outsourcing sounds a lot like the political discourse in the U.S. And in Germany, most of the themes are the same. Outsourcing is a topic that stirs anxiety, and companies turn to it to find cheaper labor. Only, German companies are less likely to look to India and more likely to look to Eastern Europe: Although it was more expensive than Asia, [Forrester Research’s Andrew] Parker said German clients appeared willing to pay a premium for geographic proximity and German language skills. “There are Russian firms that still have a strong reservoir of German speaking developers in Moscow and St. Petersburg that they can tap into as needed,” Parker said.