| OFF-SHORING JOBS By Nancy R. Smith. February, 2005 For many months I have been concerned and confused by all the rhetoric -- pro and con -- about the outsourcing, specifically the "offshoring," of American jobs. My own Christian understanding is that there is a Biblical "preference for the poor," and this is true of most other religions as well. So what is right -- spiritually, ethically, economically, and politically? Is a concern about the impact on the American worker comparable to protectionism? Or is there much of an impact on the U.S. worker? What does all this say about global Workplace Spirituality? These are issues I must deal with in writing a book that should be available soon: "Workplace Spirituality: A Guide for Business Leaders and Managers." The chapter I am currently working on is about corporate social responsibility -- "business ethics beyond your business walls." As one who was previously employed in the high tech industry, I sometimes wonder if part of the economic downturn in my own personal life has to do with job off-shoring. There is no clear evidence that it does. Moreover, my own faith challenges me to applaud the efforts to level the financial playing field for the whole world and to "give preference to the poor." No matter how "poor" I may feel in losing work as a technical writer, I remain wealthy by comparison with most of the rest of the world. For those readers who are outside the U.S. -- and there are many of you -- how do you see these issues? Does your country "export jobs" or "import jobs?" If you are receiving more work, are your workers and economy benefitting, or are your citizens being taken advantage of while multi-national corporations make obscene profits? If so, are your workers afraid to object less they are left with no jobs at all? My personal investigation continues. There seems to be no easy, obvious answer or solution, but I want to share with you some of what I have found and learned. First, I recommend to you the Offshoring Issue Guide of the Economic Policy Institute, (whose monthly JobWatch figures are available at http://www.workplacespirituality.info/article1027.html) . The Economic Policy Institute is "a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy." Here are excerpts from the Introduction: Excerpts quoted from the Introduction to the Offshoring Issue Guide, http://www.epinet.org/Issueguides/offshoring/epi_issue_guide_on_offshoring.pdf (Accessed February 15, 2005): "Recent reports of the widespread offshoring (substituting foreign for domestic labor) of white-collar jobs that were previously insulated from foreign competition have attracted the attention of politicians, journalists, and workers. Although workers in manufacturing industries have long been exposed to foreign competition, trends such as falling communication costs, the Internet, and other technological advances now have made a much wider spectrum of jobs vulnerable to relocation across national borders.... "Employer announcements of plans to move more white-collar jobs abroad can have an immediate effect on the on willingness of the current workforce to accept lower pay increases and to work harder. If a greater share of jobs in the United States becomes exposed to foreign competition, this could place steady downward pressure on wages of U.S. workers. "The challenge to policy makers in the United States is to make sure the potential benefits to be gained from trade in services are widely shared. Capital-owners and corporations seemed poised to reap large benefits from service trade; U.S. workers should be compensated for the extra risk they now bear through competition with workers in other countries. This compensation should take the form of large social insurance programs (publicly guaranteed health and pension benefits) as well as more-directed programs like making sure that service-sector workers displaced by trade are eligible for trade-adjustment assistance (TAA). "Because such forms of compensation seem unlikely to appear soon, the asymmetric benefits of offshoring make a good case for throwing sand in the wheels of this sort of trade by allowing governments to use procurement policies to provide domestic employment, especially during times of employment crises. Furthermore, the publicly owned firms that engage in offshoring ought to at least be transparent in their business dealings, offering layoff notices and providing clear accounting of the employment in their various units, both domestic and abroad. "Less controversially, there seems to be no reason why the U.S. tax code should privilege offshoring over domestic employment, and proposals to fix any such asymmetry should be welcomed. In addition, there should be a strong consensus to fix the official data on imports of services (which has been shown to be woefully inadequate). The Bureau of Economic Analysis should be provided the resources necessary to understand why its surveys are not picking up the extent of offshoring and to collect the data necessary correct the problem." What do YOU think? Send us YOUR comments on the subject: http://www.workplacespirituality.info/feedback.html For other articles and resources from both sides of the issue: Training vs. Off-Shoring, a Herman Trend Alert Employers are evaluating where jobs should be performed most efficiently and cost- effectively. As this evaluation proceeds, we will see even more transnational job movement. Exporting America: An Interview With Lou Dobbs By Jeff Fleischer. February 7, 2005. Mother Jones.
When American manufacturing jobs headed overseas in the 1990s, supporters of tariff-free trade argued that newly unemployed workers could simply find jobs in the growing high-tech sector. Yet multinational corporations soon outsourced white-collar and service-industry jobs as well, with overseas labor fielding support questions from computer users, programming software, and even examining X-rays and MRI scans for American consumers. Protectionism not a solution to loss of US jobs: survey: Feb 6, 2005. Emphasising that protectionism would not solve the problem of loss of US manufacturing jobs, a new market analysis has said the solution lay in stimulating domestic demand, cutting budget deficit and pushing countries with artificially low currencies to allow them to appreciate against the dollar. "The take-away protectionism won't address the causes of the loss of US manufacturing jobs in recent years," 'McKinsey Quarterly', a magazine specialising in market analysis, said. Who Fears Outsourcing and Offshoring? By former Romanian Finance Minister Daniel Daianu for Southeast European Times in Bucharest, Jan 31, 2005. The pros and cons of outsourcing and offshoring have become the subject of vigorous debate in many countries. Many economists believe a combination of factors -- including high educational levels, low local wages and good governance -- are necessary for countries to capitalise fully on the advantages of a global economy....What matters in the global economic game is the existence of substantial wage differentials among countries and regions. It is this factor which drives industrial relocation, as globally-oriented companies shift operations to areas which combine cheap labour with adequate technologies. The intensity of this process depends both on the wage differentials and the quality of other production factors. Offshoring By the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). While offshoring has had a significant effect only on certain segments of the U.S. labor market so far, over the long run the potential problems resulting from an increase in the global supply of highly educated workers could depress the living standards of American workers who historically have been much less affected by globalization. (p. 13)...In little more than a decade, governments of nations constituting more than half the world's population (China, India, Eastern Europe) have decided to join the world market system. Those countries have large and rapidly growing pools of talented and educated people with much lower incomes than people with similar skills in the United States. (p. 18)....trade expansion has hurt 70% of the American workforce over the last three decades....The consistently big winners from trade (especially offshoring) are capital-owners—those who derive a significant portion of their income from profits. (p. 20). Exporting Our Jobs New website dedicated to spreading awareness about American jobs going overseas because of out-of-control corporate greed. Supported by
Union Built PC.
___________________________________________________ Nancy Smith is a writer, educator, and ordained deacon whose ministry is to link faith and work, spirituality and justice, passion and ethics. From her own commitment to the Christian faith, she affirms the common spiritual experiences of people of all faiths and encourages inter-religious dialogue. Nancy offers Spiritual Life Retreats as well as workshops on Workplace Spirituality and Career Decisions. All are appropriate for both clergy and laity. Her book Workplace Spirituality: A Guide for Business Leaders and Managers will be available soon. Visit her web ministry at www.WorkplaceSpirituality.info |
