What are your feelings on the economy and outsourcing of jobs?

Answer 1

Outsourcing doesn't have to involve sening jobs overseas. For example, many companies have outsourced their internal accounting and cleaning functions. For example, if a company's main business is manufacturing cars, then management are unlikely to have the expertise to manage a cleaning staff as well as focussing on production quality. In such a case, outsourcing to a specialised cleaning company means that they get professional cleaners who are managed by people who know how best to manage the cleaning process. The same applies to nook-keeping and accounting in many cases.

When your family buys vegetables from the supermarket you are effectively outsourcing since the alternative would be for you to grow all your vegetables at home. In contrast to 100 years ago, most people prefer to outsource their vegetable production because they don't have the time or expertise to grow their own and it is therefore cheaper for them to buy these goods in from a professional farmer/greengrocer.

If a country is ever going to be wealthy across the board, tehn it must have its population focussed on what it does best. This means that people in that country must be skilled and able to earn a high wage. If this happens, someone still needs to do the unskilled labour intensive jobs, so it makes sense to send these jobs overseas where it is a win-win. The country sending the jobs offshore gets cheaper goods and services, and the country receiving the jobs gets higher incomes since the outsourcer must pay people in that country more than they were already receiving, otherwise they won't be able to get any workers in India, China etc. In this context, outsourcing also helps to reduce global poverty over time. The main losers are those unskilled people in the rich country, who have to gain skills to get the new higher paid/higher skilled jobs that emerge in the wealthy country. If these people do not have access to training opportunities, then you can have negative consequences fo outsourcing, but this is a problem with the educationa dn training system, not a problem with outsourcing itself.

Answer 2

That's a huge topic for this board. Obviously it's a bad thing for the most part. A lot of good people have lost jobs, often after long years of dedicated service to a company. Especially in a larger company, the shareholders most likely do not see the people who have lost the jobs, nor do the particularly care about their situation. So the stockholders (the owners of the company) want a lower cost to increase profits.

As a result, the company's finance gurus decide based on expenses, labor is cheaper outside of the U.S. So the jobs are outsourced to less expensive wage places.

However, there is also a flipside that is good. Because of globalization, costs are driven down to the end consumers. So, the only solution is to buy products that are completely manufactured in your home country, including all phases of distribution and production. (a "Made in America" label may can be applied to any product produced as long as at least one production step was produced in the U.S. or a territory owned by the U.S).

So, if you want to ensure that jobs will be kept here, you have to buy American.

Answer 3

Please show me the huge unemployment rates that would support clams of negative effects of outsourcing.

Unemployment is low and income is rising for everyone but unskilled laborers. There is some shift from manufacturing to service, but the American worker is adjusting. There simply aren't the long unemployment lines that one would expect as workers complain about outsourcing. On the other hand, places like Mexico and China do have huge untapped labor markets willing to work cheaply.

The winner here is the consumer. Instead of paying top price for clothing and automobiles Americans get largely discounted prices.

The biggest loser is those who haven't graduated from high school and are making the same amount as they did in the 70's.

Answer 4

* Okay, suppose widgets now cost $5 instead of $20 because they are made in China.
* I earn $50. Instead of leaving the store with a widget and $30 in my pocket, I have my widget and $45.
* I can spend my extra $15 on services (which generates employment), or I could save it (which is used to invest in more jobs, or props up the strength of the economy)
* anyhow, before people start whinging about the ethics of this, why can't Indians have cushy computer programming jobs?

Answer 5

outsourcing is going to ruin our middle class. Americas economy will prosper but only a few percent of americans will.