|
Power Balance
|
2003-12-29 10:02:04-05
|
Global Outsourcing: Hot-button Issue in Coming Year
|
|
Western companies set to replace white-collar jobs with workers in Asia will be an increasingly contentious issue
|
First, western companies began moving call centers to Asian countries where there were local populations that had good English abilities. A prime example of this is India and the trend continues. Now it appears that many multinational western companies are going to notch things up a bit higher by moving well-paying white-collar jobs to other regions, notably Asian countries and this move is et to be a contentious issue throughout the decade and perhaps beyond. The euphemism phrase is global outsourcing and the highest profile company that has surfaced in this scenario is IBM. The Wall Street Journal last week reported that IBM plans to move as many as 4,370 jobs from the United States. This strikes right at the heart of the American middle class and would do the same in any other western country. At IBM, the subject is described as a lightening rod issue with few spokespersons willing to go public on the issue. The best that IBM can offer is the me too approach competitors are doing it, so should we. In many instances, adding insult to injury, many of the workers that are losing their jobs will be asked to train the new worker. The workers affected in the United States normally do not belong to unions, so there can be no organized labor protests. If the outsourcing continues apace, will white-collar employees adopt the practice of their blue-collar brothers and join unions? Will government get involved through, in the case of the US, congressional hearings? Will this be a positive development in Asia? Will Asian workers resent the fact that they are being tapped because they will be paid less than their western counterparts? Will global outsourcing exacerbate already touchy regional, racial and religious tensions? However things play out look for global outsourcing to be an increasingly big subject in Asian and world business.
|
