Steve Tanner, of the Silicon Valley Business Ink, looks at the issue of offshore outsourcing (the practice of U.S. and multinational companies outsourcing projects or building facilities in cheaper labor markets in places such as India and China). Tanner includes replies from New Jersey State Sen. Shirley Turner, and Josh Sperry, a local organizer for TechsUnite and the Communications Workers of America, as well as Pennsylvania's very own US Senate candidate for the Democratic Party nomination:

Charlie Crystle, a Pennsylvania Democratic contender for the U.S. Senate is concerned the U.S. economic system is on a dangerous path, one driven by short-term economic interests, and in serious need of regulation through tax incentives or policy change of some kind.

"America is not a business; it's a country. And I think there's a necessary distinction between the two. The principle of chasing the cheapest labor is not sustainable," Crystle says. "We need policies to reflect the principles of economic justice, of equal opportunity for all."

Crystle does not believe corporations are necessarily to blame, but says elected officials need to craft policies that reflect the interests of citizens. As the founder of a Lancaster, Penn.-based software company called ChiliSoft, sold Sun Microsystems Inc. three years ago, he says offshoring affects more tech workers than many realize.

"In my old company, Sun has outsourced my old software. Unfortunately, the ratio between product managers and developers is 1 to 20, or 1 to 30," says Crystle, saying that only product managers have at least some job security. "That's not a good ratio for our future."

Tanner closes the article with an important look at the Presidential candidates, and the looming political implications:

Democratic front-runner Howard Dean's platform suggests the need for tax reform as a disincentive to offshoring. President Bush's 2004 campaign Web site makes no mention of the issue, but it's noteworthy that his campaign call center is outsourced to India.

Some politicians might choose to ignore concerns over offshoring, many will embrace it, and others still might exploit these concerns for political gain. But the issue will only gain momentum, barring a sudden turnaround in employment opportunities.

Posted by at October 3, 2003 07:03 PM | TrackBack