Come ON people! No one’s holding a gun to the heads of companies here. No one’s reducing costs just to gain an edge. Economy being the way it is it’s only natural that there is a difference.

Instead of berating India for her effort towards betterment you should be criticizing the McClatchy network for the shoddy way they’ve decided to go about things. They had a choice – and they chose to do it the wrong way!

Throwing the blame on India is like yelling at your cat for drinking milk that had accidentally split over into his feeding bowl from your son’s glass.

When the announcement was first made, it felt like a body blow and I was physically ill. Especially because four of the five folks who were laid off were 10+ year employees. Do I like it? No. Do I understand the business sense? Yes.

Advice from my boss was to read “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. It really helped me understand…and become angry about how ineffective our education system has become. While India and China have invested heavily in education, the U.S. has seen steady declines in literacy and the prison population has increased dramatically. Part of our education system that has been neglected is continuous learning and job retraining. In order to compete in the global economy, we need to think innovatively and be proactive in anticipating, and then planning our career changes.

As a culture, we need individuals to constantly learn new ways of earning a living and a community that offers learning opportunities. I still miss the people who were laid off in Fresno. The uncertainty of job security has affected company morale. The work from India (and lack of cultural translation or too-literal understanding) has been frustrating. Sometimes it was frustrating with our in-house staff, too. There were just different problems.

One positive aspect of outsourcing that is highlighted in Friedman’s book is how the growth of the middle class around the world provides security. After all, people who are comfortable with their lives are unlikely to go to war…they have too much to risk. Friedman’s book is mind-blowing and ends by challenging the U.S. to focus on innovation and education. The world comes to the U.S. because of our innovative society…then when people return home, they beat us at our own game.

In regards to McClatchy having the ad techs train their replacements…they have offered big financial incentives for those choosing this option. It’s not just heartless business. It’s about the first priority of keeping the company financially viable. Please understand that ad revenues are in a steep decline from last year. Readership is actually increasing through combined the print and online products. When the real estate, job recruitment, retail and automotive categories return to advertising at previous levels, assuming that is even possible, then I’ll look for new jobs to be added in house. Until then, we’re trying to make it through the tough economic climate…just like everyone else.

Come on guys we have to stop this nonsense! The people getting rich are the ones who care nothing about our country.

Put common sense back in Washington. Vote Obama!