MS not to outsource Windows development to India

By siliconindia   |   Monday, 02 August 2004, 19:30 IST
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REDMOND: Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, on Thursday denied reports that it was outsourcing development of the next version of its flagship Windows operating system to contractors in India. WashTech, a local organisation trying to unionize workers at Microsoft, said earlier this week, citing documents it had obtained, that Microsoft had doubled the number of people working for the company in India to 2,000, of which 900 are Microsoft employees while the rest are contract workers. "The documents suggest that the contractors and employees are involved in high-level development projects and not just low-level work such as call center customer service," WashTech said in a report on its Web site. Stacy Drake, a Microsoft spokeswoman, denied that development work on Longhorn was being outsourced to India, saying that only some testing work related to the next generation Windows operating system was being contracted to outside partners in India. Other tasks, such as tools for migrating computer systems from the current version of Windows to Longhorn were also being outsourced to partners in India, but core Windows development work would remain in-house, Drake said. "The development work for Longhorn will be done only by Microsoft employees," she said. Microsoft, as well as other US high-tech companies, are increasingly tapping into India's growing pool of English-speaking software engineers to keep costs under control. A year ago, Microsoft started to shift technical support and development tasks to India and is also building a new facility in Hyderabad, in addition to offices that it operates in Bangalore, a major technology center in India. The reports of increased Microsoft hiring in India come as the company seeks to cut $1 billion in costs, according to memo sent to employees from chief executive Steve Ballmer earlier this month. WashTech has also seized upon recent cuts in benefits at Microsoft to try and gather support for its union efforts. In May, Microsoft made minor cuts in employee stock purchase discounts, prescription drug payments and parental leave policies.

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