..The recent RBC outsourcing fiasco was so unusual, revealing and, for many Canadians, infuriating.
The story centred on about 50 IT workers who found their jobs outsourced and themselves fired. It got to be news only because it was outrageous: the soon-to-be fired employees had to train foreign workers, brought into the country by a third party outsourcing.
The CBC broke the story and it spread like wildfire, only to have RBC fan the flames with its clueless attempts at spin control.
Chances are that if and when you get fired, even as part of a massive layoff, that your dismissal will not make the news. It will not get reported by the company, except perhaps as a line item special charge for “reorganization” or some other euphemism.
Corporate Canada was watching as RBC flailed around amidst the firestorm of its own creation. You have to know everyone was taking notes. Publicly traded companies will be far more careful on farming out jobs. The hiring of foreign workers is going to plummet. Especially after the federal government this week was embarrassed into changing the rules governing their use.
The foreign worker “problem” is solved and we can all go back to sleep.
But of course we can’t.
If we sit idly by and do nothing, Canada will continue to undergo the same hollowing out that the U.S. has suffered through. Good paying, middle class jobs will continue to be outsourced to low-wage, foreign countries, never to be seen again.
If you think it is just RBC doing this, think again. Take a look at Manulife Financial, North America’s second-largest insurer, which is betting its future on fast-growing Asia.
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor
via Paul Brent: Corporate Canada’s Getting Sneakier After the RBC Layoffs.
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