What Offshoring Wave?

The burst of technology at the turn of the century had pundits predicting that all manner of professional jobs – any position that required creating or handling data that could be transferred online – would move away from Western Europe and the US to India, China and other nations with low wages and plenty of skilled workers. Economists predicted that about one-fifth of jobs in the US could easily transfer overseas. Yet a study from the Peterson Institute argues that only 4 percent of 1 million layoffs during 2004 and 2005 in the US can be attributed to outsourcing. An examination of layoffs in Europe during the same period suggested that 5 percent could be attributed to outsourcing, while Japan probably did lose substantial numbers of manufacturing jobs to China. Robert Samuelson writes for The Washington Post that “globalization hasn't crippled the U.S. job machine.” Changing technology, financial problems, downsizing due to competition are among the most common reasons for job loss. “Losing a job is a wrenching experience for anyone, but the lesson here is that most job loss has local causes,” writes Samuelson. – YaleGlobal