Dan Henninger has an interesting piece in Opinion Journal. The focus is on Lou Dobbs of CNN, who has become a left-wing monster of late.
An interesting point to be made, in my ever-so-humble opinion, is that out-sourcing, the bane of well-intentioned liberals across the country, has a cause, and it has nothing to do with the federal government. That is, the availability of competent workers.
Much of the commotion focuses on high-tech jobs. That phrase has come to mean programmers. The problem is that companies cannot find enough. The standard response is that we need to provide incentives to the unemployed to get them the skills to fill these jobs.
Okay. Every community college in this country offers at least a single class in programming. Most offer associate degrees. The typical tuition rate for community colleges is around $25 per credit hour; $75 per course. $150 per year.
What keeps people from getting this degree is that there is right and wrong. Fuzzy answers don’t make the program work. Rules must be followed. Math and science are generally involved. Writing a program that works means making a A in class. Too much pressure.
The same people complaining are the very ones who cry about illegal Mexican workers, who “do jobs Americans won’t do.” The difference here is that Indian workers are doing the jobs Americans won’t get the education to do.
Thanks to Dr. Ray for pointing out this article.
Sure, your argument holds up for programming jobs pretty well, but I think you’re distorting this issue by covering only one side of it. I really don’t think “much of the commotion focuses on high-tech jobs.” The outsourcing also applies to thousands of phone-based customer service (and many low-to-mid-level tech support) jobs that could easily be filled right here by high school graduates. Profit lust, poor budgeting, and high employment taxes (not necessarily in that order) are the problems that prevent a lot of American companies from developing their employees.
Sure, I agree that a lot of us are too lazy to go and get that extra degree or even take that one extra course (especially with our own time and money), but if companies could and would make the investment in providing better on-the-job training I think they really would develop superior service, delivered via more loyal and worthy employees, and see a better bottom line.
I admit that I managed to bring up only _one_ other employment sector that’s subject to outsourcing, though. Maybe a discussion of other sectors would sway my opinion. What else is really getting outsourced a lot?
[initiate:self-aggrandizement]
Finally, I’d like to take at least some credit for inspiring this post via my outsourcing-related response to your recent comment on one of my posts.
[end:self-aggrandizement]
Comment by Bogey — March 7, 2004 @ 3:40 pm
You are just too awesome!
From personal experience with someone who worked in phone solicitation, I can say the people who work that area work a week or two, get a paycheck, and move on. Hard to keep a business running that way.
Manufacturing jobs are moving overseas, and have been for many years. Americans want lower prices. With all the things you’ve mentioned, businesses can offer lower prices due to cheaper labor costs elsewhere. That labor cost hereincludes all those things, along with 7% matching for Social Security and being the government tax collector.
Companies once provided many educational opportunities, but employee loyalty has declined to the point that it isn’t profitable. The mobile workforce of the ’80s and ’90s put an end to that.
Comment by Bunker — March 7, 2004 @ 4:11 pm
I don’t understand what bogey said, but I’m with him.
Comment by birdie — March 7, 2004 @ 5:35 pm
>>>Companies once provided many educational
>>>opportunities, but employee loyalty has
>>>declined to the point that it isn’t
>>>profitable.
Why did employee loyalty decline so much? Could it be because they saw those companies slashing and burning the once-loyal workers every time the economy slowed down? While the CEOs kept getting raises?
Yo Birdie, thanks for the backup.
>>>Manufacturing jobs are moving overseas, and
>>>have been for many years. Americans want
>>>lower prices.
Can’t argue with that. EVERYONE wants bargains on EVERYTHING, to the point of being irrational (e.g., wasting productive time by over-researching purchases — thank you Internet). And often the folks who are losing those manufacturing jobs are ill-prepared to do anything else right away, without some new training.
Comment by Bogey — March 7, 2004 @ 8:38 pm
I think your rates for community colleges might need a bit more research. Last fall I took two classes at my local community college (in Iowa of all places) and it was $95 a semester hour.
Comment by Blueshift — March 8, 2004 @ 12:38 am
Rates here in South Texas are still at the $25 level. Your mileage may vary!
Comment by Bunker — March 8, 2004 @ 5:43 am
Looks like I’m moving to Texas!
Comment by Blueshift — March 8, 2004 @ 11:13 pm
Heck, you should see what the rates are here in Baghdad.
Comment by birdie — March 9, 2004 @ 2:55 am