Hello Hazarika:
Thanks for sending in the article.
Good idea - for the Indians that is.
I just didn't quite get it. Why are these two entrepreneurs trying to spend $1800 a month, instead of paying $500 to an employee (offshore) and millions on buying the cruise ship? No immgration visa problem or US payroll tax problem there too.
>From: Shantikam Hazarika <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>>Reply-To: Shantikam Hazarika <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: Re: [Assam] Fw: April Roses - 2005
>Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 11:42:53 +0530
>
>I would like to have your views on the following that I got on my mail
>a few moments ago:
>
>quote:
>http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2005/0509/048.html
>
>Two San Diego entrepreneurs have come up with a very literal twist on
>offshoring software development jobs. This pair wants to get their
>hands on a 600-cabin cruise ship and park it off the coast of El
>Segundo, Calif., just over the 3-mile border that marks international
>waters. They'll pack the boat with engineers who will write code day
>and night.
>
>The two founders of SeaCode, David Cook and Roger Green, are confident
>their plan will float. All they need to do is classify their workers
>as "seamen," so that they're protected by international maritime laws
>that skirt the need for those pesky immigration visas. The workers
>will fly in and out of Los Angeles International and board the ship
>with a sailor's card from the Bahamas, where the ship likely will be
>registered. This lets the company avoid U.S. payroll taxes on the
>foreign coders. Cook, a former supertanker skipper, plans to dock in
>Long Beach once a month to resupply and dispose of waste.
>
>Programmers--sorry, seamen--hired from places like India and Russia
>would have their own cabins, work eight- or ten-hour stretches on
>either a day or night shift and have the rest of the time to sleep,
>play shuffleboard or take a water taxi to shore. Cook imagines a
>four-months-on, two-months-off work cycle. Take-home pay will be about
>$1,800 a month, compared with $500 per month for an experienced
>engineer in India. "We're not a slave ship," says Cook. Adds Green,
>"It's like the International Space Station."
>
>SeaCode's pitch is that it will still charge the same rates as
>developing-world firms (Green says Indian firms hide behind amazing
>markups) while offering clients freedom from killer flights to India,
>Israel and other faraway destinations to check in on projects. Work
>will also get done faster with two shifts. "Try to get American
>software engineers to work at night," says Cook.
>
>Cook and Green, who used to be chief information officer at
>chip-equipment manufacturer Cymer, have already raised an undisclosed
>amount toward a $10 million ship. Their backer is Barry Shillito, a
>San Diego angel investor and former assistant secretary of defense.
>Right now the two are close to making an offer on a 34-year-old boat
>called the Carousel, currently steaming around the Canary Islands.
>Says Green: "We're looking for a couple of anchor clients."
>
>As much as it sounds like a joke, the plan could work. "Nothing tells
>me that it's flatly prohibited," says San Francisco maritime lawyer
>James Walsh. That's because a "seaman" can be defined broadly as
>anyone who works on a vessel. But don't count on locals to be happy
>about a colony of programmers floating just over the horizon. "It's
>not my prerogative to tell them to take a hike. I'll leave that to the
>Coast Guard," says Kelly McDowell, mayor of El Segundo. unquote
>
>Regards.
>
>Shantikam Hazarika
>
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