HERBERT: Bracing for the Blow

[dw]

In The New York Times

...snip...

"Offshoring" and "outsourcing" are two of the favored euphemisms for shipping work overseas. I.B.M. prefers the term "global sourcing." Whatever you call it, the expansion of this practice from manufacturing to the higher-paying technical and white-collar levels is the latest big threat to employment in the U.S.

Years ago, when concern was being expressed about the shipment of factory jobs to places with slave wages, hideous working conditions and even prison labor, proponents said there was nothing to worry about. Exporting labor-intensive jobs would make U.S. companies more competitive, leading to increased growth and employment, and higher living standards. They advised U.S. workers to adjust, to become better educated and skillful enough to thrive in a new world of employment, where technology and the ability to process information were crucial components.

Well, the workers whose jobs are now threatened at I.B.M. and similar companies across the U.S. are well educated and absolute whizzes at processing information. But they are nevertheless in danger of following the well-trodden path of their factory brethren to lower-wage work, or the unemployment line.

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[Dems Will Win]

1. Dean must address this immediately!

[JaySherman]

2. "Our competitors are doing it and we have to do it,"

Anyone else getting sick and tired of hearing this pathetic excuse? F'ing corporate lemmings! I hope the competitors start jumping off the proverbial bridge. :mad:

[Skittles]

3. yes

they are so patriotic