I wrote a paper about Outsourcing about a year ago. I have had several people ask me about my thoughts and feelings about this topic lately, so I thought that maybe several of you also have these questions. Click on the link to take you to the paper
OUTSOURCING-FRIEND OR FOE, to get an idea of where I stand. I did some research on the topic and I thought that my findings were interesting.
Let me know what you think.
Happy CADDING : )
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Brian,
ReplyDeleteI take some issue with the .53% figure for total number of American jobs outsourced overseas. For example, say Walmart, outsources for jobs at the corporate level. This would probably fit the model you used to arrive at the half percent figure since Walmart probably does not outsource much of their direct cost labor. The products they import, however, are produced by forign producers, whose native workforce is not considered to be "outsourced", but are never the less displacing American jobs.
David Saenz
Architectural Designer
Former Tool and Die maker
El Cajon CA.
David,
ReplyDeleteThe definition of Outsource can be different depending on what a person wants to use. That was the biggest difficulty I had when doing my research. One study would define it one way, while a different one had another definition. Many of the studies I read defined outsourcing as having a job or task being filled from an outside source as opposed to the entity doing it them self. This could mean many different things. For instance, the company I work for outsources its employee insurance benefits management to another company. We don't manage it. We outsource our bulk printing, we outsource our environmental engineering, and so on. Outsourcing doesn't necessarily mean that the job is preformed in a different country. This is what my paper was looking at, outsourcing, hiring someone, or some group, to do something for you without direct employment.
That being said, I agree with you. Buying a product made outside of the United States is also a form of outsourcing, in my opinion. But it is not the true definition.