Globalization: Outsourcing and Offshoring Software Creation Essay

Supporters argue that outsourcing has a minimal effect on job losses, and has increased economic growth in some cases. In actuality, outsourcing has decreased the domestic economy by decimating job opportunities and lowering wages. Steven Pearlstein, economics columnist for the Washington post reaffirmed arguments that outsourcing has decreased employment availability and stability of the economy by saying “There are growing numbers of people who think that what started as a sensible, globalized extension of sending some work outside a firm to specialized companies may in fact be creating long-term structural unemployment in the United States, hollowing out entire industries”. (Pearlstein 3) The IT industry has been especially affected by outsourcing, with many jobs moving overseas to India and Bangladesh, leaving employees in the United States without a job, unable to compete with lower wage offerings. Supporters of outsourcing argue that this business strategy increases everyone’s productivity, raising everyone’s income, and boosting economic growth. Many such studies tend to focus on large multinational corporations, for which the data and anecdotes are more readily available. And indeed, during the 1990s, the data seemed to show that for every one job added abroad, companies added almost two new

Many businesses in United States manufacture their product overseas. This involves manufacturing products outside United States where the labor cost is cheaper. Because of cheap labor, it is often more economical for a U.S. company to manufacture overseas and pay the shipping costs than to manufacture in the United States. For a company, the savings may be substantial. However, there are negative impacts on U.S. employment, as many jobs in the United States are being outsourced and replaced by overseas positions. The manufacturers outsource production projects to save time, money or resources. The manufacturing is outsourced so as to remain competitive and maintain a steady work flow. Without outsourcing, manufacturing costs could escalate to the point at which no product would sell and all employees would have no work. Outsourcing comes

Outsourcing emerged on the financial arena during the 1980s and has since then been spreading. Outsourcing production was furthered with the process of globalization which provided a new component leading to the strengthening of resources, skill and labor specializations across the world. The process of outsourcing is using the skill and abilities of a third-party to accommodate society on the foundation of labor. As stated earlier, it was during the 1980s that the process kicked off mainly due to the efforts of corporations when they began to hire labor forces across the world. Even though outsourcing has come out from its developing stages, there are still following effects on the US economy.

The phenomenon has created major suffering for many American and as this outsourcing continues to spread, Americans will demand action (R. Hira 2008, p-95). The book also adds that scholars Ralph Goory and William Baumol have shown that even when the basic model of the economics are used trade does not make both the trading partners better off. The trading in one country will have a negative impact while trading in other country will have a positive impact. The country with negative impact will definitely affect its economy. United States economy being the world’s largest economy; historically, it has maintained a stable GDP growth, a low unemployment rate, a high level of research and capital investment funded by both national, and because of increasing saving rates, increasingly by foreign investors. But offshore outsourcing has increased the unemployment rate dramatically in the decade. And so the economy worsened day by day.

The most cited official projection outsourcing is by Forrester. It is estimated that outsourced US jobs will grow from about 400,000 in 2004 to 3.3 million (recenty revised to 3.4 million) by 2015 which seems quite significant. But on a yearly basis this accounts for about 250,000 jobs but in perspective the number is small compared to the total US employment of 137 million. It actually only constituate less than 2 per cent of 15 million Americans who lose their jobs each year . Goldman Sachs estimates that offshoring has accounted for 500,000 million lay offs in the past three years. A study by Ashok Deo Bardhan and Cynthia A. Kroll at the University of California, Berkeley indicates that up to 14 million Americans now work in occupations that are at risk of being outsourced . Forrester also estimated that 300,000 US jobs have been outsourced. While the Commerce Department 400,000 new jobs, which leaves a net result of 100,000 new US jobs . In addition, an Economic Policy Institute in New York announced that 144,000 new jobs were created in August 2004 . Summarizing the numbers, it seems that outsourcing will have a positive effect on the overall US economy.

The debate over outsourcing in the U.S. is controversial among citizens and economists alike. There are many economists who believe that outsourcing is the next, most logical step in a free market economy (Mankiw & Swage, 2006). These economists believe that the market shifts according to supply and demand. An inherent feature of a free market economy is the free competition of goods and services where the goods and/or services go where the demand is the greatest. According to this view, there is a high demand for labor at a reduced cost and there is an almost endless supply of cheap labor overseas. An example of this would be that a call center attendant would be paid anywhere between twenty and twenty-five thousand dollars a year in compensation whereas the same worker in China would be paid approximately five thousand dollars in compensation per year (Mankiw & Swage, 2006). As anyone can see, there is a large difference between U.S. compensation and overseas compensation. These

As the problem of job outsourcing becomes more of an issue in politics, elected officials like the President and Congress will no longer be able to ignore the dilemma. The war in Iraq has been at the forefront of the presidential race but the importance of outsourcing

It was clear to management in GSD that although these numbers are very compelling and give the company an opportunity to save a vast amount of money, offshoring would still be a very sensitive decision. Historically, the benefits of free trade had been premised on the logic of comparative advantage. Management at GSD wondered whether the concept of comparative advantage was losing its relevance as an argument in favor of free trade. The question was put forth that, if free trade simply transferred jobs, where would the new jobs come from to utilize the skills of highly trained displaced developed world workers who had grown accustomed to high levels of pay? In 2003, a newspaper article commented on a political debate related to offshoring jobs of radiologists from the hospital of Massachusetts General Hospital. It stated, “The hospital would beam images electronically from some scans to India, to be worked on by radiologists there”. As one would expect, US radiologists were up in arms over this. “Who needs to pay us $350,000 a year if they can get a cheap Indian radiologist for $25,000 a year?” (Who’s Reading Your X-Ray, The New York Times. Nov. 16, 2003). This is the exact view that GSD would not like to portray. Their reputation both internally as viewed

The core of this issue is whether or not offshoring American jobs can be economically beneficial to America. According to a study conducted by McKinsey Global Institute, a global management consulting and independent research firm, and affiliated research firm Forrester predict that of the anticipated 3.4 million jobs lost to offshoring there will be a net economic gain to the United States.

Offshoring attracts much more criticism when it comes to outsourcing. When a business considers leveraging offshore outsourcing in order to gain a competitive advantage there are a few definitive reasons. Many of those reasons revolve around an inability to hire domestic labor for the required job as mentioned above. The U.S. has high living standards along with strict health regulations that don’t exist abroad. China’s lack of environmental standards is another differentiating factor that gives their workforce a competitive advantage. As a result, China is able to keep their wages so low that it’s ultimately incomprehensible for business owners to justify not hiring there.

The American Outsourcing Case is a compilation of factual information for the purpose of provoking debates. The authors present both the pros and cons of outsourcing, and avoid inserting their personal bias. The case clearly defines outsourcing and then focuses on outlining its existence in China, Mexico, and India. The evolution and U.S. involvement in the Maquiladoras of Mexico is described first. The implementation of NAFTA and the creation of Maquiladoras were major catalysts in the growth of free trade between the U.S. and Mexico. China, in an attempt to attract foreign investors, created Special Economic Areas, which designated geographic zones that were enabled to operate under their own laws. With great tax benefits

In the upcoming years, many jobs in the service sector will be lost to workers overseas. Countries overseas can do the same job but in return they provide a lot less pay. The cost of living in other countries is far less than in America, in return American manufacturing workers stay competing with the millions of people that reside in Europe and Asia. Expanding service sector trade in the United States is not providing any net gains, but rather the so called transition. This transition may take a generation or more and US wages may

Critics see outsourcing as impacting both domestic and foreign countries in a negative way. Domestic economics falters since business is transferred to outside sources, therefore local employment suffers, prices may rise, and people may lose their jobs. The United States loses about 230,000 jobs a year due to outsourcing and new jobs are not crated that frequently or rapidly, therefore local unemployment rises. At the same time, the US also loses skills due to outsourcing. Developing countries also experience global stratification where, even though the imported business upgrades social conditions, social demarcation and hierarchy occurs where the labor class is exploited by newly formed elite. This is called "Global stratification". Consequences may be disastrous not only for the country

In the past decade the topic of outsourcing has become a heavily debated subject on if it is ethically correct to outsourcing jobs to foreign countries. Outsourcing has become more and more an option for many companies and not just an economic fad. The decision to outsource is a difficult one for any company to make because there are many advantages and disadvantages to consider. The decision to outsource affects many people, communities, and industries so if a corporation decides to outsource they must consider how it will affect human dignity, the common good of the economy, and subsidiary.

Green, Aaron. (2007, September 17). “Part 1: Offshoring basics: definitions, benefits, and challenges.” Retrieved from www.boston.com/jobs/on_staffing/091707.shtml