Outsourcing backlash could hurt US high-tech sector

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2004

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The impact of outsourcing on US unemployment has been grossly exaggerated, according to a study that said US authorities should improve supply-side initiatives before penalising companies that ship jobs overseas.

Productivity gains, the 2000 dot.com bust, and weak US and international economies were much more important factors in the job losses of the past three years than the much ballyhooed phenomenon of offshoring, according to the trade group that represents the US high-tech sector.

The American Electronics Association did not provide figures to back up its analysis: researchers noted that there is no hard data on the number of jobs that have been relocated to India, China, and other countries by corporations seeking cheaper labor and lower...