JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation will cut 137 information technology jobs, outsourcing them through a deal with a company based in India.
The Jacksonville Daily Record reports CSX said Tata Consultancy Services will provide operation, maintenance and support for the company’s IT systems. “Many impacted employees will have an opportunity to join TCS,” the company said in a statement.
TCS has almost 600,000 employees in 46 countries. A four-to-six-month transition process began at CSX in April, not long after Steve Fortune was hired as executive vice president and chief, digital and technology.
and FOOTE shows again his head is stuck where the sun don’t shine!!!!!
The core competency of a railroad is running trains and, hopefully, earning a profit in doing so. IT is an important support function.
The key is to retain an IT management team that overseas the functions that are outsourced, i.e., contracting, establishing performance objectives and standards, setting policies and procedures. etc. A company should never outsource the management of a function, i.e., IT, purchasing, HR, etc.
I worked for a Fortune 200 electric company for more than 30 years. In the beginning all of our linemen were employees of the company. By the time I retired, 80 percent of the line work was done by contractors. But they worked under our management.
Many of the outsourced linemen, and a few women, did better working for a contractor than they did for us. The contractors had numerous customers; they could move folks around more efficiently and effectively than we could, which worked out well for everyone.
Look at the bright side – this means that 137 people in India will not have to work as scammers, but instead have legitimate jobs. “:Thanks you for calling the Amazon technical department, my name is John Smith, how can I halp you today?”
What are the core competencies of a transportation company? Once upon a time, I was told information technology was a core competency of a transportation company, perhaps even that it was all about IT. IT permeates principal functions of a transportation company – providing service, controlling assets, tracking operations, processing financial tractions, and reporting results. Why would anyone want to hand that much power over company affairs to an outsider?
Profits over people. Their corporate greed has no limit. What ethics?
The most efficient and effective corporations focus on their core competencies and outsource, where possible, everything else. For most organizations, IT is not a core competency.
Political correctness notwithstanding, the primary objective of a corporation in the long run is to optimize shareholder returns.
Approximately 77 per cent of CSX’s common shares are held by institutional investors and mutual funds. If you have a defined pension or a mutual fund, etc., you have a vested interest management realizing the best possible returns for your financial well being over the long run.
Just had to throw water on the fire, eh Paul? But what you state is pretty much true.
Consider this, wages for tech workers in India is rapidly approaching US levels. Further offices in India require certain levels of support staff(janitors, cleaners, and most importantly the tea ladies). In a few short years office operations in India, Sri
Lanka, The Phillipines, and any number of offshore countries will be more expensive than the the US.
This move is un-American, unpatriotic in the extreme. But ya’ know, the same group of shareholders who voted to approve handing Hunter Harrison the $$$ he gave up when he broke his employment contract with CP, after he threatened not to come over unless they did, would approve this IT outsourcing if it had been put to a vote. Absolutely time to “outsource Mr. Foote”. I am ashamed to say I’m a shareholder but I bought in in the pre-Harrison, pre-PSR madness. I kept thinking things will change for the better, that management will dump its Wall Street addiction and go out to grow the business. But instead they change for the worse. The entire Class 1 crowd seems to want to be destroyed by the likes of TuSimple. Hell, UP is working with TuSimple as evidenced in an article by Bill Stephens a few months ago.
Great. Our computer programs suck forwards, backwards, left and right. Now we’ll get the added benefit of not being able to understand any of the so-called tech support.
As a retired train dispatcher, I remember working with the IT department often. If I had a computer display or radio telecommunications problem, someone would be in my cubical within minutes. I didn’t work for CSX, but I can imagine the employees in its Jacksonville, FL operations center are very concerned.
FWIW, I always ask politely for a Stateside rep, and always get one.
Thanks for that information Al. I’ll remember that in the future.
I get, “Wots da madder, don’t you like me?”
I believe that CSX’s dispatching is computer driven. Wiill that system be supported from India?
Typical bonehead move by finance people to save a few cents.
Might be the same “geniuses” who centralized dispatching in Jacksonville with it’s recurring hurricanes.
CSX typifies the oxymoron “railroad management.”
Short term gain, in exchange for losing more customer in the the long term. Maybe they should outsource their railroad?
WOW what a CF!!
The Indian company has surely told management, “don’t worry, we speak english”. Un-huh, have you ever tried to talk to AT&T’s “english” speaking tech’s. If you are lucky you will get one where you can make out about half what they say. Gad I hate dealing with those people.
Every company big shot should have to deal with them DAILY. It would not be long before they went back to in company. As another has already stated why on earth to big companies hate people that helped get them where they are (US employees)? What a piece of crap.
Just wait til they outsource dispatching
Yeah the train dispatching and the T&E crews after that. Although Marty&The Boyzz might, I say might, put up a fight about the latter.
I am also a shareholder and I feel this is a very bad move. I have dealt many times with overseas call centers and trust me, it is not fun.
I am a shareholder and I don’t like this move. . . shortcited. Outsourcing your IT is like outsourcing your brain and nervous system. Think about the security implications for CSX but more importantly the nation.
Offshoring, not just outsourcing. Outsourcing is what banks and the like do with housekeeping and like jobs. Offshoring is worse because the jobs are gone from the country.
Your call is important to us, please hold……press 1 for English…press 2 for…..
Maybe it’s time to outsource Mr. Foote!!!!!!!!!
I WORKED FOR AND INSURANCE COMPANY THAT DID THE SAME THING. CUSTOMER SERVICE WENT DOWN THE TUBES. IN FACT THEY HAD TO BRING SOME OF IT BACK TO IN HOUSE.
ONCE AGAIN, WE HAVE THE GREAT MBA THINKERS SCREWING UP AMERICAN WORKERS.
WALTER PERLICK
MBA has nothing to do with it. Just, IMHO, greed. Yes, I have an MBA – in the IT world. And I’d been told I was the likely hire for a certain job – one that best works in the NYC area and US in general, and then an HR rep for the firm in question told me that the job had been offshored to India. The firm in question – highly profitable already.
Again, nothing to do with MBA’s. It’s just greed. You can be a high school dropout and be greedy.
A standard part of such deals are offering severance to the US employees contingent upon them training their Indian replacements and not suing or criticizing CSX.
The greed of corporate executives knows no bounds.
Moving them to India, LOL! Obviously none of the execs have had to deal with customer service based in India in their life. Oh, but this is good for the shareholders, now.
While the nations railroads are struggling to maintain fluid operations, there goes another batch of American railroad jobs….all while the meltdown continues!