Monday, September 24, 2012

The Future of Outsourcing

I very rarely dabble in politics, but given that it is an election year, and there are endless political ads everywhere, I thought it would be interesting to address outsourcing and the unemployment rates in the United States.  So many large companies choose to outsource their labor to countries such as China, India, and other South Asian countries.  As mentioned in one of the articles that we read for this week, it discusses how outsourcing is starting to become more costly with rising fuel prices and shipping costs.  Additionally, these once poorer countries are becoming more developed and workers are demanding higher wages.  This once dirt cheap work force is heading towards being equivalent to US workers.
Many political parties have argued that the opposing candidate is responsible for sending so many jobs overseas while the unemployment rate in the US remains high.  Because of the decreasing gap between other countries and the US, it is making more sense to have companies produce their products in the US.  With more jobs in the US, there are less people unemployed (and with health insurance?) which benefits everyone in the country.  The corporations are saving in fuel and shipping costs, individuals are able to work to support their families, and those who already have jobs will have less of their tax dollars going towards welfare and unemployment funds.  By altering the supply chain process in the work force shift from overseas back to the US, there is potential for long-term costs savings and improving the unemployment rate in the country.  I am also not a financial whiz but if forecasting into the future, and the trend of these underdeveloped countries improving to have higher worker wages continues, US corporations should see the benefit of keeping jobs in the US.
My question is how can we possibly leverage political candidates to encourage keeping jobs in the US?    Wouldn't this strategy provide benefits to everyone?



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