Poll

Will outsourcing of US high-tech jobs hurt or help US economy in the long run? [143 votes total] Hurt US economy (68) 48% Help US economy (48) 34% Hard to predict (27) 19%

Comments

David Smith, No way ross bettinger
ross bettinger says:

"the controversy over H1-B visas emphasizes the decline in the supply of well-qualified home-grown professionals"

My father works for the Michigan Deparment of Labor and acts as the regional director at times. As I am a programmer, I've asked him, and we've talked about this issue. What you say is staight up bull****. There has been no decline in the supply of well-qualified home-grown professionals.

It is mandatory that the business seeks American jobs before being willing to accept an employee from another country. Businesses don't. And it's very hard to enforce this sort of law, it's a large problem.

So, they outsource offshore, and save millions of dollars.

I wanted to clarify that. The outsouring of jobs will be good for everyone in the long run. Cheaper goods, better products, hopefully. It will sting for a second, but it will make us all better in the end.

Gary Kochman, Offshoring High-Tech Jobs
Doesn't really matter whether it helps or hurts the US economy - in a free market economy, jobs for which networking makes location irrelevant will inevitably flow to those locations where comparable skills are available at lower cost. This will help lift wages & economies in developing nations, and, until equilibrium is reached, will exert downward pressure on wages & economy in the US and other nations that have heretofore enjoyed the world's highest wage rates.

Jonas Palomas, Offshore outsourcing of jobs
It's good for the economy ... that is until it's my job that's going to be outsourced. Then it becomes bad.

ross bettinger, hi-tech job loss to outsourcing
high-tech job loss may be good for the economy in the long run despite the short-term pain of the unemployed high-tech worker who has to retool and relearn and recommit to a new career at perhaps lower pay and less benefits. what worries me is the downgrading of science and engineering in the public eye: the national production of high-tech workers which is vitally essential to an advanced economy has been slipping. the controversy over H1-B visas emphasizes the decline in the supply of well-qualified home-grown professionals. while I welcome immigrant professionals who come to the US to fill open jobs and remain to become citizens, i worry that our "national willpower" and willingness to do hard mental work are being abandoned by a rising generation of post-Baby Boomers who know only affluence. once the seed corn of their parents is consumed, what will sustain them if they do not provide for themselves and their children?

Ismail Parsa, Outsourcing of US jobs
It's the American job machine. It is good for the economy. No fears from what's being lost as consumers will be better off with lower prices and increased service levels. At micro/ industry level some workers will hurt. Innovation in existing domains and discoveries leading to new domains (e.g. bio-stats, micro array...) will help the workers. Those workers able to update skills and/ or leverage existing skills in new domains will survive, others will be wiped... It's the process of Destructive Creation... Jobs will become much more dynamic as a result. We are already experiencing this at Citi...