| A qualitatively new organization of capital and labor is affecting migration practices in a way unimaginable a decade ago. In an ever-increasing global economy, information technologies are producing a form of migration that adds a new dimension to what is termed as “the international division of labor.” This study explores the rapidly growing, but little researched, practice of online labor-flows from India to the United States, and compares it to the corresponding physical migration of programmers called body shopping—a practice of bringing programmers from India to the United States, and arranging work visas for them to work onsite in the US. While online programming implies migration of skills, but not of bodies, body shopping implies migration of both bodies and skills. Comparing the physical migration of labor with virtual labor flows, this study attempts a new perspective on prevailing immigration debates in the United States regarding high-tech workers by exploring the changing channels of labor supply. |
