Hola. It is Finals time and I had to write a 3-5 page thesis using MLA documentation (I'm sure you college folks know of what I speak). I picked my favorite subject "Outsourcing I.T. jobs".

I have untill next week to turn it in, so if you all have the spare time I'd like your input. It will be graded on Flow of though and how well the thesis sentence and concluding paragraph are. Grammar and spelling are secondary but still important.

I would also like to hear how your guys classes are going and maybe see some example of thesis papers you've written.

Thanks!

Here it is.
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Glenn Hasley
Prof. Clare Parsons
English 102
25 November 2003

The Downfall of America: Why Outsourcing I.T. Jobs to Foreign Countries is Killing America’s Economy.

Outsourcing Information Technology jobs to foreign countries is killing America’s economy. It has been going on since the early 90’s and it is becoming an increasingly real problem for people seeking these types of jobs in America. If the outsourcing increases at the predicted rates it could mean very bad news not only for America’s economy, but also for those people who have spent years in college specializing in this field. Outsourcing I.T. jobs to third world countries is a great thing for the companies here in America because it allows them to reap bigger profits. However, while these company’s profits are increasing, it is simultaneously causing the American economy to plummet.

I.T. (Information Technology) is the technology that runs this world. Everything from a grocery stores inventory, to your water, electric and cable bills, to your personal bank account is run with Information Technology. I.T. relates to stored information. Many different kinds of databases are used to store this information and different programming languages can be, and are, used to retrieve this information in a readable format. It takes many people to make this possible. There are entire fields of specialization that people go to college for to be able to obtain these high paying jobs. Fields like database, network and server administrators, as well as programmers who specialize in many different programming languages and data entry personnel (among the lower paid) are among the most numerous. Add to that, for each of these individuals you have secretaries and assistants who help them in their day-to-day tasks and you can see that when someone mentions I.T. jobs, they are talking about a major part of the worlds job market.

The migration of high paying I.T. jobs to foreign countries began almost as soon as the words “Information Technology” were conceived. But it wasn’t until the late 90’s that it really started to have an impact on America’s economy. People were, and still are, spending tens of thousands of dollars to get college degrees in the field of I.T. In fact, so many people are going to college and earning these degrees that there are many more qualified people than there are jobs. When you add to this the fact that a lot of these jobs are being outsourced to other countries, you end up with more supply than demand, which drives the salaries down. The I.T. salaries have been plummeting for several years and there is no end in sight. In fact, it was shown that as many as 70% of people polled believe that “The impact of outsourcing IT jobs overseas on U.S. tech jobs will be severe” (The impact of outsourcing <http://www.computerworld.com/departm...3,5204,00.html>).

The main target of outsourced jobs has been India. Their failing economy allows them to work for as little as 1/10th of an American’s wages and still lead a comfortable life. However, now many companies are looking for even cheaper places to outsource their jobs. According to the Wired News, “U.S. companies such as IBM, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle and PeopleSoft are already exploring countries with even cheaper sources of technical labor…The new destinations include Romania, Russia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.” (Delio <http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59126,00.html>) This means that even more jobs are going to be lost over the long haul because well educated American workers can not possibly compete with the wages that are being paid to people living overseas.

These American companies know that what they are doing is wrong and is hurting the American economy. “A CIO at a famous Fortune 100 manufacturer has a recurring nightmare: As he continues to lay off American IT workers and move their jobs offshore to places such as India, never to return, American public opinion suddenly swings violently against globalization. He and his company are demonized, and Americans boycott his company's products.” (Koch <http://www.cio.com/archive/090103/backlash.html>) This CIO then insists on remaining anonymous, proving that he is ashamed of what he is doing. These companies already make millions of dollars in profit each year, yet they feel as though they must sacrifice American jobs in order to make even larger profits. They do this even when they know that it is wrong and could potentially turn around and bite them in the long run.

The future of the I.T. job market, and therefore the American economy, does not look very good at all. According to MSNBC, “By 2004… more than 40 percent of companies will have already shipped some tech-related work overseas.” (Fording <http://www.msnbc.com/news/947478.asp?cp1=1>) And “Research firm Forrester estimates that over 3 million jobs, many from tech industries, will leave the United States by 2015.” (Delio <http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59126,00.html>) As more high paying jobs leave America there will be less money being spent. Therefore, other companies will suffer because their merchandise will not be bought and they will in turn have to reduce the amount of employees they have. This leads to a downturn in the economy known as a recession and could possibly even lead to a more devastating depression.

Many I.T. related people have begun to organize and protest against these companies. It is their opinion that American companies should fill these jobs with local workers before moving them overseas. They believe it is not fair to employ foreigners when you have perfectly able workers ready for employment right in your own city.

There is really only one solution to this growing problem. The federal government has to pass a bill that states if you are an American company you have an obligation to American workers to hire them before you begin to outsource your job openings overseas. Whether or not that will happen is yet to be seen. All we can do now is make our voices heard by contacting our state representatives and telling them how we feel about this issue. Maybe, if we speak loud enough, we can change the path that the American economy is headed down and save these jobs that American’s deserve to have.



Works Cited

Delio, Michelle. "Jobs Squeeze for Indian Workers." www.wired.com Terra Lycos. 25 Nov. 2003 <http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59126,00.html>

Fording, Laura. "Jobs Go Global." www.msnbc.com msnbc. 25 Nov. 2003 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/947478.asp?cp1=1>

Koch, Christopher. "Offshore Outsourcing > The Politics." www.cio.com CIO. 25 Nov. 2003 <http://www.cio.com/archive/090103/backlash.html>

"The impact of outsourcing IT jobs overseas on U.S. tech jobs will be." www.computerworld.com ComputerWorld. 25 Nov. 2003 <http://www.computerworld.com/departm...3,5204,00.html>