Convergys leads the nation in shipping high-skilled, high-pay jobs to countries like India and the Philippines
From:
www.ocsea.org/privatization/index.html
________________________________
BAE recommendations to privatize, offshore HR work driven by politics
Study offers misinformation about Florida's offshoring
Jan. 26, 2004 - A recent study suggesting that Ohio government privatize and offshore its human resource (HR) services appears to be motivated by political factors, rather than sound data and the public's best interest.
OCSEA Operations Director Bruce Wyngaard said BAE's recommendation to contract-out the HR work —instead of allowing state managers and workers to re-engineer these systems —is not supported by their evidence.
Instead, the BAE study undermines the HR improvements already underway through the state's Ohio Administrative Knowledge System (OAKS), a larger, government-wide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project. OAKS is scheduled for completion in 2007.
Ironically, on the day the BAE report was published, the Governor's office announced that OAKS is again moving forward after being stalled in 2003 due to funding cuts.
Wyngaard said that BAE had a clear motive to make an unsupported recommendation.
"BAE is known to have close ties with the Convergys Corporation, the main company that stands to benefit from its recommendation. BAE successfully recommended that the State of Florida hire Convergys in a similar privatization effort. In proposals to Ohio officials when it was seeking the consulting work, BAE noted its experience with Convergys, an unusual step when most consultants seek to emphasize their independence and objectivity," said Wyngaard.
Ohioans should be leery of the Convergys connection, OCSEA leaders and staff warn.
"Although most Ohioans haven't heard of Convergys, it is a major political player and contributor in this state," said OCSEA President Ron Alexander. "I think Convergys is arrogant enough to believe it deserves to get the HR contract as a return on its campaign donations."
BAE was also dishonest about the Florida experience, added Wyngaard.
"BAE liberally sprinkled its Ohio report with unverified success stories, anecdotal information and data from Florida despite the fact that the Florida effort has been plagued by so many delays, performance problems and cost issues that Florida officials have withheld payment to Convergys."
Convergys leads the nation in shipping high-skilled, high-pay jobs to countries like India and the Philippines. It is the biggest example of how big business unfairly profits and undermines the nation's economy by offshoring tens of thousands of US jobs.
Wyngaard emphasized, "Although it promised to keep the work done for the State of Florida in the U.S., Convergys shipped the technical work to India. It also appears that it keeps copies of Florida workers' private medical and work records on computer servers in Asia."
Convergys has been the center of several negative news stories, aside from the offshoring issues.
In 2003, a PR firm hired by Convergys was discovered to have planted plagiarized op-ed columns touting the benefits of HR privatization in the Columbus Dispatch, the Baltimore Sun and other major newspapers.
In anther case, Convergys found itself in a controversy after receiving nearly $200 million in Ohio and Cincinnati tax breaks after the company threatened to move 1,500 jobs to Kentucky.
OCSEA and other organizations complained that these tax breaks unfairly subsidized Convergys at over $100,000 per employee.
Convergys also recently angered northwest Ohio officials when it closed a call-center in the Toledo area while apparently shifting the work to Asia.
OCSEA represents over 37,000 state employees and estimates that it represents over half of the more than 1,200 employees who could be affected by the BAE recommendations.
www.ocsea.org/privatization/index.html
________________________________
BAE recommendations to privatize, offshore HR work driven by politics
Study offers misinformation about Florida's offshoring
Jan. 26, 2004 - A recent study suggesting that Ohio government privatize and offshore its human resource (HR) services appears to be motivated by political factors, rather than sound data and the public's best interest.
OCSEA Operations Director Bruce Wyngaard said BAE's recommendation to contract-out the HR work —instead of allowing state managers and workers to re-engineer these systems —is not supported by their evidence.
Instead, the BAE study undermines the HR improvements already underway through the state's Ohio Administrative Knowledge System (OAKS), a larger, government-wide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project. OAKS is scheduled for completion in 2007.
Ironically, on the day the BAE report was published, the Governor's office announced that OAKS is again moving forward after being stalled in 2003 due to funding cuts.
Wyngaard said that BAE had a clear motive to make an unsupported recommendation.
"BAE is known to have close ties with the Convergys Corporation, the main company that stands to benefit from its recommendation. BAE successfully recommended that the State of Florida hire Convergys in a similar privatization effort. In proposals to Ohio officials when it was seeking the consulting work, BAE noted its experience with Convergys, an unusual step when most consultants seek to emphasize their independence and objectivity," said Wyngaard.
Ohioans should be leery of the Convergys connection, OCSEA leaders and staff warn.
"Although most Ohioans haven't heard of Convergys, it is a major political player and contributor in this state," said OCSEA President Ron Alexander. "I think Convergys is arrogant enough to believe it deserves to get the HR contract as a return on its campaign donations."
BAE was also dishonest about the Florida experience, added Wyngaard.
"BAE liberally sprinkled its Ohio report with unverified success stories, anecdotal information and data from Florida despite the fact that the Florida effort has been plagued by so many delays, performance problems and cost issues that Florida officials have withheld payment to Convergys."
Convergys leads the nation in shipping high-skilled, high-pay jobs to countries like India and the Philippines. It is the biggest example of how big business unfairly profits and undermines the nation's economy by offshoring tens of thousands of US jobs.
Wyngaard emphasized, "Although it promised to keep the work done for the State of Florida in the U.S., Convergys shipped the technical work to India. It also appears that it keeps copies of Florida workers' private medical and work records on computer servers in Asia."
Convergys has been the center of several negative news stories, aside from the offshoring issues.
In 2003, a PR firm hired by Convergys was discovered to have planted plagiarized op-ed columns touting the benefits of HR privatization in the Columbus Dispatch, the Baltimore Sun and other major newspapers.
In anther case, Convergys found itself in a controversy after receiving nearly $200 million in Ohio and Cincinnati tax breaks after the company threatened to move 1,500 jobs to Kentucky.
OCSEA and other organizations complained that these tax breaks unfairly subsidized Convergys at over $100,000 per employee.
Convergys also recently angered northwest Ohio officials when it closed a call-center in the Toledo area while apparently shifting the work to Asia.
OCSEA represents over 37,000 state employees and estimates that it represents over half of the more than 1,200 employees who could be affected by the BAE recommendations.
posted by PABlo Bley aka Paul Alan Bley at 3:01 PM
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