Is Your Job Vulnerable to Outsourcing?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

Poll question: Is Your Job Vulnerable to Outsourcing?

First it was "unskilled" manufacturing jobs. Then it was "service" call center/tech support jobs. Americans were assured that if they were educated in the wonderful world of technology and computers/programming that they would have excellent careers.

Someone forgot to tell Americans that one huge side effect of the computer/internet revolution is that not only can the chips and PCs be made overseas, but that learning computer programming does not require massive expensive mainframe computers anymore but can be easily done on PCs so that bright, motivated, educated young people in Eastern Europe, China, India, etc. are able to do much of the "skilled/educated" tech jobs at a fraction of a U.S. salary for such a job.

I work in a field, medicine, that has one of the highest barriers of entry for foreigners to obtain the necessary credentials to be my competition. I'm paid well for the work I do. For the time being, I'm relatively safe from overseas competition.

However, I'm very familiar with the training and ability of physicians in my specialty from other countries. There are many countries, particularly the U.K., Australia, and many European countries where the training and certification requirements for my specialty are at least as rigorous, and more so in some cases, as in the U.S., and the level of practice in these countries is equivalent to here. I'm under no illusions that with sufficient economic pressure that insurers, corporate payers, etc. would not consider bringing in such foreign competition to decrease their cost outlay for medical care.

There's already a group of radiologists (not my specialty) who live abroad in places like Australia and Switzerland, who provide night coverage radiology study reading services, via the internet I believe, from those sites. Currently I believe those radiologists are U.S. docs with U.S. licenses who happen to live abroad and take advantage of the time zone differences to seize what would otherwise be undesireable night work that their domestically domiciled counterparts would probably demand increased pay to do. However one could easily imagine that it wouldn't take much to transfer these services to cheaper foreign radiologists, well trained, or not...

http://www.nighthawkrad.net/

So while I would consider myself in a situation relatively safe from foreign competition, I look at it as a "for now" scenario.

What about the work you do?

[ingac70]

1. I'm an endangered species....

I work in an automotive glass factory.

[DemonGoddess]

2. my current job is safe, since

I work in a convenience store as a clerk

[rox63]

3. I'm on the endangered list

I work in tech support, and the weekend and overnight support jobs at my company have already gone over to India. :scared:

[hippiechick]

4. Currently a project lead for an IT department ...

... we already tried India and it didn't work, but that's not stopping our brilliant new execs and their cronies from reconsidering it. Sigh. :eyes:

[JulieWisc]

5. Also in Tech Support...

we are a dying breed in America so YES my job is being outsourced and I'm not happy!! I'm still paying on my student loan!! and I sure don't want to move to India!!!! :cry: :argh:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. If the bugs move from Arkansas

then my job at the pest control company will be outsourced. I will say this; up until last year, our chemicals were made in GA. I've noticed now that some of it comes from India. I'm trying to move the firm over to non-poison sprays, and I think they are made in the USA-I'll have to check.

[misternormal]

26. As a resident of the "Natural State"...

... I would say that your job is fairly secure... That is until they develop a satellite tracking system for bugs and can zap them with a laser.

[Cobalt Violet]

7. Both my occupations are very, very safe. Maybe even 100% safe.

Unless people start flying to India or China for haircuts and highlights.

I'm also an artist. I don't see myself hiring anyone from any country to paint my painting for me.

[meganmonkey]

8. My job is more secure because of outsourcing

I work for a hunger relief program. The more people who lose their jobs, the more work I have to do :(

Believe me, our goal is to put ourselves out of business.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

10. Wow.. I was curious about the "my job is completely safe" answers.

I figured "U.S. Military" and "guy from rich family with inheritance" would be the leading candidates there!

[meganmonkey]

13. I would also guess direct service jobs are safe too

anything from nurses to food service workers to auto mechanics...those are reasonably safe, I guess.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

14. Lots of nurses from Asian countries, big influx in the last several years.

Especially from the Phillipines. How many of these are brought in to fill a need from a nursing shortage, vs. displacing nurses who would otherwise seek work, I don't know.

[MercutioATC]

9. Unless they start paying Indonesian children to tell planes where to fly..

...I should be safe.

"Safe" being a relative term, however. We're in contract negotiations and the FAA is trying to cut our pay by 30% and make us work split shifts (work from 9:00am to 1:00pm, go home, and come back from 4:00pm to 8:00pm).

[Nikia]

11. My job is not vunerable to outsourcing

The cheese mafia will prevent that from happening.
American companies producing cheese for American consumption won't be won't be doing most their manufacturing outside of the country for this reason. It also makes sense logistically.

[dogman]

12. My job should be safe unless bringing in visa workers is outsourcing.

To me it would be and I think anyone who is not selfemployed is at risk.

[Seedersandleechers]

20. I'm a nurse, and so far the hospital I work for hasn't yet out-

sourced, except for the mental health physicians...

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

25. Yes, but did they specifically hire visa physicians to replace the old

psychiatrists at lower cost, or did they lose the former psychiatrists, and found these guys to fill in? There's a difference, in my mind.

[supernova]

15. My company wants to outsource my editorial work

I edit technical books.

My division head wants to outsource our editing jobs to India but they couldn't find anyone with decent enough English skills to do it since what I do requires advanced English rhetoric, grammar, and proofreading skills. Again, it doesn't stop the large heads from trying. :eyes:

Nevertheless, we have an office in India that currently will do formatting for you or will convert docs for you.

I love my job, but I'll see how long I last! :-(

edit: misspelled "proofreading" :P

[AwareOne]

16. Not vulnerable to outsourcing but

I'm more likely to be replaced by illegal aliens who will do the service work I do for a third of the salary.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

17. Hm I should have worded this differently, since if you lost your job in

this way, I'd consider it a type of "outsourcing".

[tom_paine]

18. Relatively safe: Molecular Biologist

I have worked in genetic technology & disease research and also production of biological research products.

(I don't wish to give out anymore details about my personal life or situation, so please bear with my relative ambiguity)

I am not 100% safe, and I am sure that there are foreign biologists who could do the jobs that I have done, but given the nature of the work and the fact that some of the work I currently do would be nearly impossible to effectively outsource,I am mostly OK.

But that was merely the luck of the draw and the luck of having career interests that ran outisde of prime outsourcing targets.

I am also not naive enough to think that in the Age of BushPutinism, that ANYONE is safe from outsourcing... or being "Katrina'd" for that matter.

[converted_democrat]

19. I'm safe, I can't be outsourced..n/t

edit- because I am a little freaked out about have my private info out there.. I read an article, and now I'm a bit freaky about it..

edited again for my grammar issues..

[kineneb]

21. hard to offshore piano lessons

I don't have many students, yet. I doubt that teachers of private music lessons, ballet lessons, and other arts have much to worry about, at least from offshoring. Now just getting business here, that is another matter.

[IDemo]

22. We've heard that our division will be gone within 2-3 years

I'm an electronics test technician in the R&D lab of a major manufacturer, and the prevailing wisdom is that the work will all be done in Asia soon. The level of sub-contracting and outsourcing already prevalent in current projects would indicate this is more than a rumor.

I would not encourage a young person to pursue electronics as a profession at this point, either with a two year technical degree or a four year EE (although the double E's probably have a greater amount of job opportunities remaining here in the next decade). Manufacturing has been racing overseas at a dizzying pace, and the R&D has been following along.

[skids]

23. I had to check other.

I wish you'd included a "What job?" category.

[mtnsnake]

24. I'm safe. I'm self employed, so let 'em try it!

I guess there are some advantages for the self-employed.

[SoCalDem]

27. Where I live, it's almost impossible to find a doctor at our facility

who is not a "transplant". I am sure that they have wonderful credentials and are excellent doctors, but sometimes it's next to impossible to understand what they are saying, and I'm never sure they understand what we are telling them..

I don't know why this is..but it IS..

When I was young, there were MANY young people here who really wanted to go to medical school, and lately it seems that since it's such a costly venture, more and more are saying "screw it" and doing something else, so we have to import doctors instead of "growing our own"..

I KNOW we have to have some smart people who would gladly become doctors, IF they could get financial assistance and not graduate with 100K of debt..

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

28. Are you in small town or big city SoCal? One problem in SoCal is that

reimbursement is relatively lower there compared to other parts of the country for docs, and the cost of living much higher. Prompted a migration away. I know, because I was one of 'em.

[SoCalDem]

29. Semi big city.. we are 165K or more..snuggled up next to

Riverside/SanBernardino.. It's a LARGE metro area.. We have had Kaiser and Pacificare (what we have now), it's been the same in either case..Maybe it's just an HMO thing..

[undeterred]

30. I am a techie

For the last 5 years I've had only contract work, with long gaps in between. Tech jobs have gone to India, and Indians have been allowed to come here and take long term assignments because they will work for less on an H1-B visa. There have been industry and economic circumstances which have played into the job market as well to be sure, but the tech job market was much better when I got into it than it is now.

[Kansas Wyatt]

31. No jobs are safe from outsourcing.

Even if some think their jobs are safe at this time, at some point, that can be changed with any shift in technology and/or change in policy, if the present course is allowed to continue. Even jobs that are safe today, are meeting increased competition of job seekers who have been displaced by outsourcing and the population growth lacking job opportunities.

Now, on top of this repressive job market, add the unchecked and wholesale flooding of the labor market with illegal undocumented workers who drive down wages for all working Americans. Yes, it is illegal, and it is not the responsibility of the American Worker to shoulder the burden of immigrants illegally entering and working in this country. Democrats continuing to champion the cause of illegal immigration, only turns off working citizens who continually see their wages lowered and jobs taken by undocumented non-citizens. Yet, those same Democrats fail to realize why so many poor people vote against their best interests, at the very same time that those poor people just do not see any difference between the political parties. It really does not matter what noble ideal you stand for, if it achieves the same devastating effect on the poor working citizens of this nation.