Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc has stopped using Indian workers for its internal computer help desk, in another sign of backlash against using offshore labor.
The New York-based financial-services firm last year hired two Indian firms -- Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro Ltd -- to manage some of its information-technology operations.
About six weeks ago, however, Lehman stopped outsourcing its IT help desk, which handles employee reports of computer problems, to Wipro. Lehman wasn't satisfied with the level of service, according to people familiar with the matter.
Lehman spokeswoman Kerrie Cohen confirmed that the firm has brought the help-desk function back in-house. Lehman's top IT executives disclosed some details of the change last month on a conference call with Louis Miscioscia, a Lehman IT-services analyst, and with Lehman clients. The conference call was held to discuss trends in technology spending.
"In terms of help desk, Indian firms could not provide the level of quality and services Lehman needs," Miscioscia wrote in a Nov. 28 research note, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
A Wipro spokeswoman declined to comment.
Lehman Brothers continues to outsource other IT functions, including software application development, applications support and some IT infrastructure support, Miscioscia said.
Lehman, which uses about 450 workers at Tata and Wipro, has generated savings of about 40 percent to 50 percent, Miscioscia said.
US companies, including Wall Street firms, are increasingly using workers in India and other emerging markets to perform back-office tasks and customer service. Companies can save money because they pay overseas workers much less than their US counterparts.
IBM Corp plans to move up to several thousand skilled software jobs from the US to India, China and other countries, which could amount to one of the biggest such actions yet in the technology industry.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique