A job cut was imminent after his team finished the software development project for a Swedish company -- Nord Kia. While the entire company hailed for the collection of that final payment on the $15 million deal, he knew that his days with the firm are numbered. What do you know? The Swedes outsourced software development to his employer for the relatively cheaper cost of the North America, comparing to that of the Scandinavia. His employer was a family owned business led by a former software engineer from India who came to the Vancouver area of Canada more than a decade before he arrived there. Vancouver business communities were often heavily influenced by political instabilities of East or Southeast Asia due to its geographical location. For instance the 1984 Punjabi Golden Temple Attack brought a large number of Indian immigrants to the area and 1997 Hong Kong handover also brought many other Chinese immigrants to the region. David's employer was now a small multi-national corporation with most customers in US after riding the ways of an economy largely infused by foreign investments. For years, the chairman, president and CEO had been his role model of someone living the real American dream. But now it seemed like David's role model was about to show him a dose of ruthlessness in the business world merely one month after getting the last mileage out of him. The CEO once confided to him "The salaries used to hire one Swedish programmer over there, can be used to hire two Canadian programmers over here. The salaries used to hire one programmer here can be used to hire four in India". With the company growing, his CEO was now at the stage of "a family owned and operated business that treats an employee just like a number on the ID badge of a large corporation". Yesterday David was the "highly trusted and heavily relied upon manager" in charge of the most important project for the biggest customer of the company. But since future Nord Kia technology needs could be well satisfied by other programmers in India, it was the time to show the ".com" style door to a "not-so-loyal" .com style employee down the food chain. Along with David, two other UK software developers, who might be quite loyal, had already become casualties of this job cut. "It is pretty easy to be a multi-national corporation and spread a bad name across the world these days." David mused, while waiting to be summoned to Human Resources to get his pink slip. "The most effective way to organize a software development company is to have sweatshops 8 hours apart and work 24 hours a day", David half jokingly pronounced a concept that he was once an advocate of, with a Powerpoint presentation voice.

In recent social events and parties hosted by David's Chinese compatriot friends, one of the common topics had been: which of their old acquaintances back in China had struck it rich. It seemed like there had been quite a few of them. It didn't look like the economic God cared too much about ideology, religious faith or cultural background. He (or she to be politically correct) probably did care a little about geography, history and science. There were certainly something incomprehensible going on in this new era, and "who ever wanted to comprehend this so called 'global economy' any way" David murmured to himself? "Yet, the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing" . . .

The phone rang and it was from the Human Resources.

"I will be right there", David put down the handset. He rose up with a smile of a diplomat heading to a truce negotiation, not knowing whether he would face a friend or a foe.
After a routine clapping and stretching following getting up from his chair, he could hear a song from Enya in his head: 'One day, one night, one moment . . . East and West over earth or by ocean. . .'Then he headed downstairs to Human Resources.