Two Studies Conflict on US Tech Jobs
A report (PDF file) written by Matthew Slaughter, a Dartmouth professor, found two main things: 1) the US has lost its place as the top destination for international investment, and 2) foreign-based companies are creating a growing number of jobs in the US, including tech jobs. The project refers to the process of jobs coming into the from offshore locations as "insourcing."
On the other hand, an IDC study states that "more than double between 2003 and 2008 to $17 billion, suggesting U.S. techies will lose jobs to countries such as India and the Philippines." This means there may be more jobs lost than gained, in total.
The conflicting nature of these reports was first pointed out by CNET.com, who said the reports present different views on the impact of global trade on US tech workers. The article revealed were also some who felt that the "insourcing" study draws the attention away from jobs leaving US shores.
The insourcing report, which says U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies employed more than 5.4 million workers in 2002, distracts from the question of what should be done to help tech workers hurt by offshoring, said Ron Hira, a public policy professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Hira, who chairs the career and work force policy committee of the IEEE-USA (the U.S. wing of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), said the focus should be on solving the problems created by outsourcing, rather than on how multinational companies create jobs here or how the United States must remain "competitive." Businesses' "arguments aren't designed for solutions," Hira said. "They don't feel any responsibility for the workers that are displaced."
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IDC's report on offshore IT services did not discuss job numbers. But the study indicates that more and new kinds of technology jobs are likely to move from "onshore" markets such as the United States and Western Europe to places including China, Central Europe and Eastern Europe.
As the exact numbers of jobs leaving and coming into the USA are unclear, there appears to be one true thing: jobs are lost, but jobs are created. The question is, do the numbers tally? Does job gain balance out job loss in the States?
Liberal trade and investment policies enable such services to be provided relatively cheaply by overseas workers, which can knock U.S. technology professionals out of jobs. But such policies are important for encouraging foreign companies to invest and hire in the United States, according to a report released Tuesday by the Organization for International Investment, a group representing U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies.
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