Commerce Department Report on Offshore Outsourcing Finally Sees the Light of Day

The US Commerce Department released its 336-page report on offshore outsourcing of labor in the information-technology job sector, after holding on to the analysis for two years. The report provides a grim projection for future employment prospects of IT workers in the US. Rising pressure for low costs from customers, consultants and financial markets has led to outsourcing of high-level technology jobs to engineers and software designers in India, Ireland, Taiwan or China whose wages are 50 to 90 percent less expensive than those of US workers. US-owned corporations employ more IT workers in Asia, reducing jobs for US graduates. The report also projects a decline in US investments by the international pharmaceutical industry. After the government released a 12-page sanitized version of the report in 2005, the publication “Manufacturing and Technology News” filed a request under the US Freedom of Information Act to win release of the full report. – YaleGlobal