Nielsen wins tax breaks to hire local workers, outsources jobs anyway

You can't make this stuff up. You just can't.

The Nielsen Co. is the parent of Nielsen Ratings, the people who measure TV audiences. In 2001, the company got generous property tax breaks to construct a $100,000,000 global technology center in Oldsmar, Florida. This tax break was based on Nielsen creating high-wage jobs.

But now - only a few years after building this facility - Nielsen is laying off hundreds of these employees and outsourcing their jobs to India.

In other words, Nielsen took a tax break for local jobs, then eliminated those jobs.

Corporatism run amok? Absolutely.

Oldsmar city council is less than amused. One member observed that Nielsen is "making a joke of the tax incentive program."

Because of Nielsen's outsourcing, it has to give up some tax incentives. But it gets to keep most of the breaks. I call that corporate welfare. Imagine what the reaction would be if an individual of average means had gotten even a few hundred dollars in free money from the taxpayers. So corporations damn sure shouldn't be allowed to get away with receiving millions.

(Source: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9105518)