In Saturday’s The Times of India, reporter Chidanand Rajghatta notes that the issue of outsourcing has become a political hot potato and will remain so. Running Scared It is a hot potato because of the hype–outsourcing means a massive shift in jobs from the US to other countries, principally China and India, resulting in heavy losses to the US job market.
Nothing could be farther from the truth, notes Rajghatta. The Information Technology Association of American (ITAA) says only around 2 per cent of the 10 million computer-related jobs have been sent abroad; 12 per cent of IT companies have “outsourced” work, compared to 3 per cent of non-IT firms. So, the number of IT jobs that have left US shores are only a tiny fraction of America’s 138 million jobs.
However, because of the hype, eight states are considering legislation to ban outsorucing and lawmakers and presidential candidates (especially Howard Dean) are proposing disincentives for corporations that send jobs abroad.
The Times of India story dovetails nicely with the remarks of Diju Raha in Sunday’s The News & Observer’s “Outlook 2004” section. Global Economy Raha, a former Nortel exec and a pioneer of offshore outsourcing who now owns Exim Software based out of Cary, notes that global trade will ultimately benefit everyone. However, he also asserts that there is a moral imperative to help those who have been displaced by the global economy–“it is our moral and Christian responsibility to look after those who are affected.”
He does not elaborate on this. And it is certainly open for discussion.
