Sun sets over the Valley
Sun Microsystems announced this week that it will be outsourcing its research and design functions from the Silicon Valley in California, to several of its locations scattered across Asia. This move continues the company and industry trend of leaving the Valley (and western hemisphere in general) for the cheap labor available abroad.
Right now the uncertainty surrounding the long term health of US economy, and the rate at which American jobs are going offshore is pretty scary. I just wrote a huge paper for my Business Ethics class on the ethical implications of outsourcing so I'm interested in hearing some of your perspectives on the issue. I know it requires a little bit of thought but does anyone have any comments? Here are some resources which offer insight on both sides of the debate:
- The Outsourcing Weblog
- Center for American Progress: The Impact of Offshoring on the US Economy
- The Brookings institute: Offshoring Service Jobs: Bane or Boon and What to Do?
One thing I do know is that I'm glad I didn't waste the past four years of college studying computer science or finance, only to have my job sent over to someone who is wiling to work for a tenth of my salary in Bangalore, India. By going into Marketing I'm making a long term bet that I will have greater earning potential and job security at least according to careerplanner.com which puts out a list of common jobs and the risk that each job will be outsourced. What do you think?
[Via Wired News ]
posted by Chris Simmons @ 5/10/2005 03:42:00 AM
1 Comments:
I agree with both of you, offshoring is part of the natural progression of globalization. If the US government were to draft legislation which limited US corporations from sending jobs overseas this would significantly hinder their ability to be competitive on a global scale. As much as it sucks for the many techies who are losing their jobs, there is no other viable option.
One thing these workers can do, rather than become involved in a lobby against offshoring, is support efforts which monitor corporations and the way they use the money they save by offshoring. If some of this savings can be passed on to consumers rather than hoarded for the corporations than the economic impact in terms of quality of life would be much less pronounced.
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