[Opinion] The Zippies

“Beware of the Zippies,” declared the Indian weekly magazine, Outlook. The Zippies belong to generation Z, who are blessed with the IT revolution and free trade, and range from ages 15 to 25. This huge cohort of Indian youths with a zip in their stride or on scooters overcomes difficulties confidently and creatively. The first generation in India after the era of socialism pursues, unlike the lessons from Hindu, higher goals rather than adapt themselves to fate. Goldman Sachs predicted that even when the six largest economies plus China and Brazil falter, only India will grow by five percent, and it is the Zippies, the children of liberalization, who are behind the growth.

The Zippies draw global attention because they are powerful human resources. Only India will see an increase in population over the next 50 years. The Zippies inherited English from British colonialism and were also provided with high-quality public education in math and science. As a result, there are 150,000 brains in Bangalore, the Indian version of the U.S.’ Silicon Valley which has 120,000 IT engineers. India’s GDP is expected to exceed that of Japan if politics does not impede its growth.

The world does not always welcome them. Thomas Friedman, a columnist at the New York Times, said that U.S. white-collar jobs will be replaced by Zippies in India, which is emerging as a service center of the world. The Zippies, who have command of English and technological knowledge, are in charge of soft jobs in the service industries such as IT, financial, and legal services, as well as simple jobs like answering phones. With the development of technologies, it does not matter the location of the program development.

The U.S., which has pursued globalization and done business across the globe, is now on the brink of being deprived of jobs. One of the heated debates in this year’s presidential election is the outflow of jobs. John Kerry of the Democratic Party vowed to take strict measures on companies which outsource jobs overseas, and John Edwards mocked Bush by saying that the Bush administration should relocate itself overseas. However, no such dispute can stop global capital from moving toward better technologies and cheaper labor. Korea, whose university graduates do not speak English well and where engineering majors and technicians are not treated fairly, will only be excluded from the competition.

Editorial Writer Kim Soon-duk, yuri@donga.com