Reps Smith and Inslee Request GAO Study on Offshore Outsourcing

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

I happen  to agree with the need for such a study . I car see a book in 
five years "the china that can say nr" --substitute many nations for china


> Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 09:21:15 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Travis Winfrey <winfreyt () yahoo com>
> Subject: Reps Smith and Inslee Request GAO Study on Offshore Outsourcing
> To: dave () farber net
>
> WashTech News
>
> July 18, 2003
>
> Reps Smith and Inslee Request GAO Study on Offshore Outsourcing
>
> By David Beckman
>
> 'We need to know where jobs are going to be.'
>
> -- Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.).
>
>
> A Washington state congressman requested a federal study
> yesterday that would attempt to determine to what extent
> the rising trend of offshore outsourcing is affecting
> the loss of U.S. tech jobs.
>
> Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash) delivered a written request
> late Thursday morning to General Accounting Office
> Comptroller General David Walker in Washington, D.C.
> Smith said in a news release yesterday that he wants the
> GAO to investigate the impact offshore outsourcing has
> on U.S. high-tech workers, aerospace engineers, and
> various levels of state and federal government workers
> whose jobs have been sent offshore. Fellow Washington
> state congressman Jay Inslee co-signed the request.
>
> Smith said that in light of the nation's high
> unemployment rate, the United States needs to develop a
> new jobs and industrial plan and determine a focus for
> the "New Economy."
>
> "We need to know where jobs are going to be," said
> Smith, who represents Washington's 9th District.
>
> While government programs invest in retraining
> unemployed workers, it is not clear whether there will
> be jobs for those workers to fill, Smith said.
>
> "Offshore outsourcing (of information technology
> services) has become increasingly common for U.S.
> organizations, generally because of the perceived cost
> savings and to enhance competitiveness in the global
> economy," Smith said.
>
> But Smith said he is concerned that retraining and
> educational programs may be training people in the
> United States for jobs that are being sent overseas.
>
> The recent practice of moving service and development
> work to countries such as India, Russia, and the
> Philippines has been employed ever more widely by
> companies such as Microsoft and Boeing in order to slash
> domestic labor costs. The magnitude of the effect on
> domestic jobs and on the U.S. economy has so far not
> been measured.
>
> "Part of the problem with the issue is just tracking and
> understanding it," says Stan Sorscher, research director
> for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in
> Aerospace (SPEEA). "We're analytical people by nature.
> Seeing the actual data would be much more helpful in
> understanding the impact."
>
> The rate of unemployment in Washington state has
> concerned Smith for some time, said Smith's
> Communication Director Katharine Lister, especially when
> constituents complained that offshore outsourcing is
> responsible for the loss of many of the state's
> information technology jobs.
>
> "We've been working the GAO (request) for a couple of
> months now," Lister says. She says the reason Smith
> assumed a low profile on the issue until now is that the
> congressman "tends to labor under the radar screen."
>
> Inslee assumed a somewhat higher profile. He met with
> representatives from SPEEA and the Washington Alliance
> of Technology Workers, or WashTech, on June 6 in
> Seattle. The groups asked to meet with Inslee to discuss
> remarks he reportedly made while on a visit to India.
> Press reports said Inslee told Indian government and
> tech industry officials that measures before Congress or
> state legislatures intended to curb offshore outsourcing
> "would not go anywhere."
>
> They also asked Inslee to initiate a GAO study on the
> effects of offshore outsourcing. Inslee said he would
> investigate making such a request.
>
> Two weeks later, however, Inslee said he was unsure
> whether he could build support for such a study.
>
> "I'd like to say we could do that, but I don't have a
> thousand investigators to be running that type of
> assessment," said Inslee, whose congressional district
> includes parts of King, Kitsap, and Snohomish counties.
> According to Washington state employment reports, more
> than 80,000 jobs have been lost in that region since
> 2001.
>
> According to the GAO's congressional protocols, any
> member of Congress can make requests for GAO
> investigations. The requests are usually made in the
> form of a letter addressed to the GAO's comptroller
> general.
>
> http://www.washtech.org/wt/printer.php?ID_Content=4590
>
>
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