Outsourcing: Killing Jobs in America

In the past few years, outsourcing has been a controversial and hot topic in the business world. Many individuals are in favor of outsourcing due to it's ability to save money when conducting business. For example, outsourcing allows business owners to profit from cheaper labor and/or savings on shipping material. Major corporations, big business owners, shareholders, and U.S. investors all benefit from outsourcing. On the other hand, many individuals are not in favor of outsourcing due to its harmful effects on the economy and job creation in America (Saleem).

            Before taking a further look into the topic of outsourcing, it is important to understand exactly what "outsourcing" entails. Outsourcing is essentially sending in-house work to other corporations or companies. It is the process of acquiring goods or services from an outside company (Miller). Outsourcing is commonly used in correlation with the saying "sending American jobs overseas." The ideas of "one world economy" or "global marketplace" is also concepts that are in direct correlation with outsourcing, and also in recent years been the framework for American businesses (Snyder). Outsourcing may have potential benefits, but it also has many potential consequences such as: transfer costs, security risks, product safety, ineffective communication, and undetermined cost expectations (Pinto). Overall, outsourcing is beneficial to big corporations, but is extremely harmful to the American workforce.

            My lego protestor's sign says "Outsourcing is Killing American Jobs" and then in the bottom corner it has Chinese symbols that translates into "Made in China." My sign is meant to symbolize the problems surrounding the issue of outsourcing. While cheap labor is beneficial to big corporation's profit and cheap products sold in stores is good for some American consumers, it is mainly harmful to the overall economy and American worker. My goal was to bring attention to outsourcing and how it is problematic to the majority of working Americans. Outsourcing promotes the idea of "global marketplace," which in turn makes businesses in conflict with a variety of regulations and laws concerning other countries. Corporations then gain interest in moving their affairs out of the U.S. (outsourcing) in order to avoid these laws and regulations (Snyder). My lego protestor's sign is speaking out against the idea of a "one world economy," and wanting solutions to America being more self-sufficient within our own country.

            In conclusion, outsourcing has more consequences than benefits, and this growing issue should be given more attention than it has. In this recent economic downturn, it is especially important that the issue of outsourcing is mentioned between our politicians and our media coverage. Creating jobs in American communities has great importance for our struggling econcomy and not only helps the local area, but also the government (Saleem). Outsourcing has created a concerning competition between Americans and millions of people around the world. Many of these people around the world are willing to work for substantially low wages, which hurts the opportunities in the American labor force. This should be a concern not only to the current employed Americans, but also to the upcoming generation that is about to enter the labor force.

           

Bibliography

Miller, Brandon. "The Effects of Outsourcing: Does it Hurt the American Workforce?"                             September 27, 2009. Accessed October 6, 2013. http://voices.yahoo.com/the-effects-              outsourcing-does-hurt-american-4272873.html?cat=3

Pinto, Jim. "Global Outsourcing Has Downsides." Accessed October 6, 2013. http://www.isa.org/InTechTemplate.cfm?template=ContentManagementContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=79776

Saleem, Hasan. "How Outsourcing Effects the U.S. Economy." April 16, 2013. Accessed October 5, 2013. http://www.dirjournal.com/business-journal/how-outsourcing-affects-the-us-economy/

Snyder, Michael. "What is Outsourcing." April 27, 2011. Accessed October 6, 2013. http://                       theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/what-is-outsourcing.