Floating IT factory makes waves
Information technology flagging out is next big thing, Lloyds List reports.
SeaCode, a software company founded by two US executives in San Diego, has announced it is setting up a floating IT shop off Los Angeles. The company plans to buy a second hand cruise ship, flagging it somewhere like the Bahamas, crewing it with 600 software engineers from around the world and setting up business three miles off the coast.
For an $US1800 monthly wage without any pension or health benefits, the workers are to rotate on round-the-clock shifts for four months at a time, writing code for its clients - a 24-hour programming sweatshop. What's more, the workers are to be classified as 'seafarers' so the company can circumvent US immigration and payroll laws.
American media tags such as "morally unencumbered modern-day pirates" and "nautical nerds" have put the idea into the pop lexicon.
One of the two founders of SeaCode is David Cook, formerly a master on seagoing tankers who has spent the last five years ashore in the IT business. His partner says the advantage for both managers and clients is cutting out the need for a three-week trip abroad to talk business; instead they can have a half-hour ride on a water taxi and all labour "at the cost of India".
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