In The News

Big Pay Luring Military's Elite to Private Jobs

Eric Schmitt March 30, 2004
Fears that US military Special Operations members will depart in droves for higher paying civilian security jobs have come to light. While the departures are minimal at this stage, the possibility that their pace will accelerate has caused Gen. Bryan D. Brown, head of Special Operations Command, to meet with senior Special Op's members to discuss ways to stem the exodus. To train a Green...

A Tale of Two Cities

Kerry A. Dolan March 29, 2004
Forbes magazine compares the stories of a dozen Americans laid off in Silicon Valley because of offshoring to those of their Indian counterparts who gained some of those jobs in Bangalore, India's offshoring hotspot. Before losing their jobs, American workers in the technology industry were going about their usual business –taking home plump checks, closing on a condo, and generally enjoying...

Letting Foreign Workers Past the Gate

March 29, 2004
If Japan is to play a leading role in the economic development of Asia – one of the world’s fastest growing regions – it must embrace globalization, which includes opening its borders to foreign labor. As this editorial in The Japan Times points out, foreigners are becoming increasingly vital to the Japanese labor force. Immigrants work in factories, hospitals, fish ports, and farms. Yet as...

Kerry's Solution to Offshoring

Sam Zuckerman March 27, 2004
Under the US tax system, companies that produce goods abroad wait until the capital reenters the country to pay taxes. According to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, this "tax holiday" structure has led to an increase in foreign investment at the expense of domestic business. In an effort to rebuild domestic industry and bring back jobs, Senator Kerry has proposed to...

74 Illegal Immigrants Held in Surprise Raid in Abu Dhabi

Muawia E. Ibrahim March 24, 2004
The movement of people across countries is very much a fact of modern life. International migration is instrumental in decreasing the distance between different cultures and people. Yet, in the contemporary period of global terrorism and ethno-religious violence, migrants can also be the source of tremendous anxiety. This week in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, immigration squads...

Schröder Condemns Job Offshoring as Unpatriotic

Bertrand Benoit March 23, 2004
Outsourcing, a vital component of global capitalism, appears to have met a staunch new critic in Germany. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder says Germany companies who move work to Eastern Europe and Asia are "unpatriotic". The cheaper labor of these regions, however, offers a strong economic incentive for German companies trying to compete globally. Nonetheless, says this article,...

In Florida Groves, Cheap Labor Means Machines

Eduardo Porter March 22, 2004
In Florida citrus groves, where most of the crop is still harvested by hand, machines are still a rare sight. As technological improvements take hold, however, Florida growers are seeing less need for the Latin American migrants who currently do much of the work. Facing increasingly fierce foreign competition, US growers view cost saving machines like canopy shakers as the best way to stay...