Few American Jobs are Safe from Outsourcing

Baltimore Chornicle ^ | 11/28/03 | Norma Sherry

[Holly_P]

If you're a draftsman, an architect, a computer programmer, a graphic designer, your days are numbered. If you're a plumber, electrician, construction worker, contractor, bricklayer, you're secure for now.

[I still care]

I heard Dell is having so much trouble with their India call center they are giving up on it.

My brother, who works in these fields in management, says it looks good on paper so they do it, but they never factor in the hidden costs - it ends up costing more to outsource a lot of these jobs.

He said much more money usually goes into training than they anticipate, and they lose business because people get tired of trying to deal with the mess.

[RaceBannon]

Most of those hidden costs are learning curves, not eternal obstacles.

That is why I am back in school...again...at age 44 for a new degree in Electronics. I was unemployed so many times and for so long I actually qualified for a student grant, free school for this semester and next semester.

[gawd]

what we need is a People's Commissar for Outsourcing. He could force companies to Hire American if he decides their actions are unpatriotic to the Fatherland.

[FreedomFarmer]

HA!!!!

The Baltimore Chornicle outsourced this space filler from Norma Sherry's liberal.org Blogsite!

[Zipporah]

The talk of the jobless rate going down.. well people are under employed mainly due to outsourcing. Also, the illegal issue is always defended by saying those jobs are ones that Americans would not do, well it's coming to the place that Americans will be fighting to be groundskeepers. The illegals also are forcing down the payscale.

In the next ten years or less, we will be seeing a drastic change in the US unless something drastic is done.

Between outsourcing and the illegal issue which of course brings upon many consequences, we are basically 'screwed'.

[netmilsmom]

I worked for BP America in Cleveland. They outsourced hundreds of jobs in the early 90's, including mine.

Many of those people were brought back as contractors earning double what they had made,and eventually hired back (Until BP picked up and moved to Houston). Outsourcing is an experiment, it works or it doesn't. In the IT industry it isn't working, bad codes cost the company money. In the call center area, bad customer service is costing the companies money. The trend is shifting. It's still scary, but it's shifting.

[The_Victor]

I've got friends that used to earn $50-70K in UNIX/PC support...

Not meaning to make light of your friends plight, but can you say overpaid? UNIX/PC "support" is one three credit/hour course at any junior college.

[baltodog]

Stay educated and stay ahead of the curve.
Give your employer the impression that you are loyal to him.
Expect nothing from your employer. You are there to make him money. The fact that your boss likes you is irrelevant.

[FITZ]

If you're a plumber, electrician, construction worker, contractor, bricklayer, you're secure for now.

Those jobs aren't at all safe when millions can come here, steal Social Security numbers and other documents and take whatever job they like.

[Issaquahking]

If you're a plumber, electrician, construction worker, contractor,

As an heavy industry electrician, It irritates me to no end to see the natural resources development groups have to go other places than U.S.A. It has nothing to do with the cost of labor - it's about handcuffing those willing to take risks (ie developing) with over-regulation, and lawsuites by the commie green groups filing law suits to protect everything from amebia's to dinosaurs.

I prefer working resource development jobs myself. Resource deveopment helps the nation by creating wealth- not just the community a person lives through redistribution of goods.

Let's get some more activity going at home! I didn't want to rape the forests, earth, etc., but I do plan on using them intelligently!

[cp124]

Give your employer the impression that you are loyal to him.

Thats great...if your emplorer survives. Businesses are dropping like flys.

[Issaquahking]

correction to the above - community a person lives in . In second paragraph. My bad.

[raybbr]

Does that make her assertions and the information any less true?

[lucysmom]

The illegals also are forcing down the payscale.

My daughter was laid off about three months ago. In the past few weeks a new trend has emerged in interviews; she is told that she had been paid too much on her last job.

[SandRat]

Find a company that needs US citizens to do the job (read that Security Clearance) by going to FedBizOpps.gov is the single government point-of-entry (GPE) for Federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000. When you follow the link to the next page just type a word in related to you skil and then find the Award button click it on, scroll to the bottom of the page and search. In what comes up you can find the names and addresses and more for companies that won the contract and must use valid US Citizen's.

Jobs requiring security clearances can't be outsourced.

[q_an_a]

you may a good point. there was a help desk at a university where they handled over 100 software applications including in house designed, unix, vax etc; most of these people earned half of what the "friend" in this story earned.

for too long there was pay inflation that did not match the task, but the money was everywhere so people paid it, then when the money ran out they sent jobs to india. if they had been making 35-50k the jobs would still be here.

[dakine]

It is survival of the fittest..adapt or die..jobs for life are rare...

[Walkin Man]

If you're a plumber, electrician, construction worker, contractor, bricklayer, you're secure for now.

I wouldn't be too secure if I was one of these people either. Lots of illegal Mexicans have moved into the building trades driving down wages for all the law-abiding tax-paying Americans that are working in them.

First they will say there is a "shortage" in these professions, then they will start importing people who will do the same work for a third of the wages that your average American would do it for.

It worked well for the high tech American jobs, just about killed them all off as a great job to have now and in the future in America.