Offshoring. Offshoring will be one of 2004's biggest political issues.
Why do I say that? Because it's one of the most talked about things
at parties I go to and I've gotten lots of requests to give my opinion
on offshoring. Many of my friends' and family's jobs have been
offshored, so this issue has hit home.
Working at a global tech company, I can tell you it's one of the
most controversial things too. I don't want US jobs to go away, but I
have tons of friends and customers all over the world (including in
China and India), so can't take jubs a "USA all the way" point of view.
Also, I'm a capitalist and believe that the jobs should go to those
who can do the work for the lowest price. If someone can do my job
better than me for less money, then I deserve to lose my job if I don't
add some value.
Here's a good resource on offshoring, if you are unfamilar with the term. Yeah, I found that by searching Google.
Tom Peters, in his book Re-Imagine! gets out in front of the issue. He says that 80% of white collar jobs will be shipped overseas in the next few years.
I've seen it first hand. A relative works at a ladder manufacturing
company. They lost $150 million in business to China this year.
Fast Company wrote an interesting article about the changes going on in our economy (about how Wal-mart is forcing huge changes to old industries).
So, we should be scared, right? Implement tarrifs. Give incentives to companies to keep jobs on US shores, right?
Tom Peters (and many other business experts) say absolutely not. Here, read what he says on page 41 of his new book:
"Destroy and Rebuild" ... that has been the hallmark of (for example ... and it is a huge example) the Great American Jobs Miracle.
Consider the following analysis of the U.S. economy. Between 1980
and 1998, we managed to create an amazing 29,000,000 net new jobs.
About two-thirds of those jobs were high paying, and most of them were
in industries that didn't exist prior to 1980. (We're a long way from
Lee Iacocca's noxious prediction in the early 1980s that all new jobs
would come courtesy of the likes of Wendy's.) During the same period,
the European Union, which is one-third larger than the U.S. in
population terms, managed to add but 4,000,000 net new jobs.
What's the difference between +29,000,000 and +4,000,000--beyond
the obvious "25,000,000"? Much of the answer can be seen in two simple
equations (though the issue is anything but simple):
+29M = -44M + 73M
+4M = +4M - 0M
The Americans got to +29,000,000 by having the nerve ... often
without grace ... to destroy 44,000,000 jobs. At General Motors. At
Ford. At Sears. At Chrysler. At AT&T. At IBM. Then we offset those
lost jobs with 73,000,000 new jobs. At Microsoft. At Dell. At CNN. At
Genentech. At Amgen. At Fidelity. At Charles Schwab. The European Union
got to the rather paltry sum of +4,000,000 by destroying nothing and
created 4,000,000 new slots ... in the public sector. (Some
interpretations are worse, suggesting that millions of private sector
were eliminated in order to keep feeding the government sector's
employees.) (Does Europe, heaven forbid, need Newt Gingrich?)
Message (BIG): If you don't have the nerve to destroy (jobs), then you will never create (jobs) on a large scale.
Which is one (big) reason ... I AM A DESTRUCTION FANATIC.
Tom hasn't discovered anything new. Silicon Valley has been shipping
jobs overseas for decades. Hey, when I grew up there used to be Apricot
and Cherry farmers here. Guess what, they aren't here anymore. Then,
this place used to manufacture stuff. You know, processors. Apple
computers. Hewlett Packard calculators. Guess what, the Valley doesn't
do that anymore (well, there still is an Intel factory near where I'm
writing this to you from).
Our jobs are constantly getting turned into commodities. Sent overseas.
Tom's book gives you some ideas on how to work on your career so it can't be shipped overseas.
But, we'll hear lots from politicians about this issue. When people's jobs are at stake, they get worried.
What do you think about offshoring? Should anything be done? [The Scobleizer Weblog] 
|
