Watch out, Bangalore. Students at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh will work in a call-in technical-support office near campus, providing services to Yahoo employees. The students, who don’t need any advanced computer training to work in the office, can make around $10,000 a year in the job. (Hold on. If Yahoo employees are calling students at Oshkosh for technical support, who is helping me when I contact Yahoo with problems?)
Adam Kostrzak, a senior manager of Yahoo’s Global Service Desk, is an Oshkosh alumnus who set up the deal. He said that operating a helpdesk in Oshkosh was significantly cheaper than doing so in Silicon Valley. (Yahoo also has call centers in New York and India.) The jobs will go to 20 to 40 students who, the university says, will be learning valuable skills. Lou Dobbs might be pleased. —Scott Carlson
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