:: India is just an hour away ::

Sometimes I really admire people. I admire their ability to keep a straight face while talking nonsense. Take for example the heated debate about allowing foreign workers (mainly from India) to join the Israeli High-Tech industry.

On one hand you have the industry leaders, claiming that we *must* allow foreign workers to work here, because the shortage in skilled professionals is killing them. While their claim is real (just try and recruit a good MFC programmer and you'll realize how real), They all know that the foreign workers are already here.

It is a well known secret that there is a growing community of programmers from India in Cyprus. Is Cyprus growing a high-tech industry? Nope. These programmers are all employed by Israeli companies such as Amdocs. In fact - Some of you development managers and HR personnel have probably got offers to hire Indian programmers in Cyprus. If you think about it - It's really not that different than having another development center in Israel, only much much cheaper.

On the other hand of the equation - we have politicians, journalists and yes - Israeli high-tech workers which are opposed to bringing foreign programmers here. This is hypocrisy at it's best: Just switch Israel with the U.S., Indian workers with Israeli workers, and remember how much you like to bitch about the American INS for not issuing enough H-1 visas. It looks quite different from the other side, eh?

Wadi writer # 3 (Maroon)

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