Re: Extra credit
Microsoft did that, a lot.
After seventeen hours straight being on the phone with several Indian consultants for an Exchange 2010 issue, I got transferred to a guy in Dallas who really knew his stuff. Took him six hours of rebuilding my Exchange files to sort out my issues (including the ones introduced by the other engineers.) Last part of the call he told me he was the last Dallas staffer. The rest of the Exchange group had been let go after training their replacements in Mumbai. He was due to clock out five months earlier, but they kept extending his contract a month at a time. He knew the systems inside out and the Indian call center guys kept referring the tough cases to him.
He confided that this was his last month come what may as he had a new job lined up. Stupidly, the re-engagement employment contract they had him sign had no notification clause. They came to him on the last day of the month long contract with a new one for him to sign. At the end of his contract, he could just walk away and he the intention to do just that on the last day.
A brilliant engineer sacrificed for Microsoft's bottom line.
PS. The quality of the Indian call-centers has improved dramatically since then and I'm not slamming them as individuals. However, at that time in history, their skills were remarkably underdeveloped.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
