Microsoft is outsourcing some of the work related to its next-generation operating system to India, according to a labor group.
The WashTech organization said Wednesday that it obtained internal Microsoft documents showing that at least two of India"s offshore outsourcing companies are working on the forthcoming operating system dubbed Longhorn. One of the documents indicates that a contract with India-based Infosys Technologies concerns a "Longhorn Migration Guide."
WashTech also said Microsoft indirectly employs more than 1,000 people in India through contractors. "The high-tech industry and proponents of offshore outsourcing have argued that the next generation of technology work will always be done by U.S.-based employees while the low-level and routine legacy work will be sent offshore," WashTech said in a statement. "These documents clearly dispute that idea and show that U.S. employees are directly competing with Indian companies for work on next-generation technologies--that originally were developed in the United States."