What measures need to be taken to make sure that offshore outsourcing does not adversely affect American jobs?

Offshore outsourcing is a highly debated topic. It would be nice if we reflect on the reasons that has lead to offshore outsourcing -

1. Highly skilled workforce for cheap labor - Most of the developing countries offers education that is highly specialized and with focus on international job economy. Difference in dollars and x currency, leads to a favorable situation for companies

2. Current restrictions and huge backlogs in H1Bs and job based Green Cards - If U.S. doesn't take necessary steps to provide more opportunities for the highly-skilled workforce to migrate into U.S., companies will continue to outsource.

3. Inadequate number of high-tech workers in U.S. - Research shows that there is about 190,000 unfilled IT jobs in the US today due to a shortage of qualified high-tech workers. Companies resort to outsourcing to fill in immediate gaps in HR.

Now looking at possible recommendations to remedy the situation of U.S. economy getting affected, the following steps may be taken -

1. Focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) based education - Children should be encouraged to pursue these fields right from their school education. Provide more funding and scholarships to students who pursue these career paths. This will eventually lead to increased pool of highly skilled workers at reasonable rates.

2. Increase the number of immigrant job visas which will reduce outsourcing for skilled labor.

3. Establish legislative measures to regulate outsourcing so that companies are required to fill in certain percentage of U.S. natives, if sufficient skills are available.

(c) Deepesh Joseph, Aug 2007
Related websites -- http://www.getallarticles.com