Should we be angry at the offshore companies that that U.S. companies outsource work to?

Question

It sort of seems to me that getting upset with the offshore companies is like getting upset with the person your husband or wife has an affair with...It is your husband or wife that you should be pissed at, not necessarily the person they choose to sleep with.

Shouldn't we be angry that U.S. companies would try to cut costs by outsourcing labor and parts to foreign companies? For instance, If microphone diaphrams (many are made cheaply in China) were brought from U.S. companies instead of from Chinese companies (assuming there are U.S. made diaphrams), the microphones would cost more, but it might create more jobs and keep money in the U.S. Likewise, if U.S. auto makers closed factories in foreign countries before closing the facotries here, cars might cost a little more, but more jobs would be retained. Is this thinking correct or incorrect?

It seems like rather than being pissed at the Chinese, we should, instead, say f*** you to the likes of GM, Hewlett Packard, ect...

Answer 1

I don't know if getting angry is the answer, but I do agree with you in that the entire face of american work is vanishing. My dad got a job out of college and only had 3 jobs before retiring at 65. 3 jobs! Could a person today even do that?

Being a cog in the corporate machine myself, I am astounded by the lack of humanity. I am not a person, I'm an entry on a headcount sheet, and if my department goes over budget, they can cut me and save a whole $85,000 a year!

I don't think there are any easy answers to this fundamental problem with our country. We are battling to keep our jobs, when Korean children do the work more quickly and cheaper, and they don't complain about their benefits.

I'd love to see an intelligent debate on this issue, unfortunately it is a rather emotional trigger for some people, which makes it difficult to really talk intelligently.

Thanks - interesting post.

FP

Answer 2

Being upset with offshore companies does not resolve any issues. If they are more competitive they will get business.

The problem here is that they are not necessarily more competitive but do get subsidies from the government that artificially gives them a competitive advantage. If they are exploiting labor by not meeting the basics then a country should boycott product from that country and or the government levies duties to offset the unfair labor practices,subsidies or exploitation.

The world market needs a level playing field and let companies compete based on efficiencies and technology. The imbalances will even out in time and those that are not competitive will Perish.

Answer 3

We are competing in a global market. We cannot ignore it and we cannot escape it. It is a realty today. While we are still ahead in technology and research, we have fallen behind in manufacturing of low tech consumer goods. Survival of the fittest means the low cost producer and we are not it. One simple reason, our life style has increased. We as a generation of workers will not or cannot afford to work for wages comparable to those in China, India and so on. We can stick our head in the sand and scream exporting of America or we can continue our dominance in the technology field and control that segment of the market. Protectionism doesn't get you very far now-a-days. The scary thing is that this year, India will graduate 700,000 engineers, much more from China. The US...70,000 and half of those are foreign students. If we continue going that route, we will be in deep do-do in the next 20 years.

Answer 4

properly, became it no longer great that Democrats like bill Clinton and Barack Obama got here in a stopped that outsourcing? Oh wait, they did no longer, did they? did no longer Clinton and Obama have the comparable rules that Bush had missed to apply? What, they are no rules, so Bush would desire to no longer have stopped the outsourcing any way? in spite of what pundits like Thom Hartmann (who has a insane hatred for Reagan) say, the outsourcing is to be aggressive with countries that have a extra inexpensive pool of exertions. in the previous then, protection of yankee agencies became offered by value lists, taxes on imports. i assume Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush have been in the back of that. rather, NAFTA and GATT took place for the period of the Clinton presidency, with Democratic controlled Congress? BTW. Many American agencies are outsourcing because of the great regulations and taxes levied by the government. Conservatives desire a central authority that could sell American business enterprise by making it much less restrictive, no longer stifle it by including extra rules and codes.

Answer 5

No the way it should work is that the crummy jobs go to the other country, companies are trying to boost profit by reducing labor and health costs. You can get a job with an outsource company located here or there.

Answer 6

As a software engineer whose job, after ten years of dedicated service to a major technology company, was outsourced to India just following the great .com crash, all I can say is AMEN!

That being said, you can hardly blame the companies that outsource. As the manager of the department I used to work for said to me just prior to showing me the door "I can get a PHD level engineer from India for $20K per year. I just can't ignore that!".

It's sort of a balancing act. While we don't want to stifle free trade, and much of our influence in the world relies on our status as a very large customer, we need to use our power to impose import tariffs on goods and services to level the economic playing field and protect the jobs of the American workers that drive this economy.

Answer 7

These all your ideals. People buying thing must consider price, quality, quantity, shipement, minimum, freight charges etc. If all people only buying their own country made, will only consume money in their own country. Such as a four people family member staying own and gambling and taking tips for family consume, few years later, the family cash soon be gone. They must have some new cash from outside then the family can be survived.

Answer 8

You're right on. It's not the fault of the foreign countries, but the domestic ones.

Answer 9

Sometimes

Answer 10

well the best way is advance the technology in US..