Major Issues in Outsourcing - Essay Example

Most of the jobs outsourced in the US include; technical support, customer service, accounting, and data entry among others. Outsourcing may have both positive and negative impacts on the economy of a nation. I agree with the motion mover on the impact of outsourcing such as lowering the personnel cost. For example, according to desk billing data in comparison of salary differences between the US and India, US workers are paid roughly $17.50 as compared to Indians who are paid about $11 per hour. This then becomes the driving factor for US Companies to outsource human labor from India. Outsourcing also allows companies to focus on competencies. If one company is dealing with a product that does not sell in the market, it might evaluate its personnel and if need be it might opt to outsource so that they come up with a competent team that can produce superior products. In return, this has the potential of improving employee productivity as argued by the proposer.

However, other research has constantly indicated that outsourcing has been associated with several disadvantages. My analysis of this debate is that people might change their occupations when faced with the challenges and risks of outsourcing. For instance, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics did conduct research on the effect of outsourcing majorly on the occupations such as computer and mathematical occupations and showed that outsourcing accounted for close to 20% of total employment in the US. If this great percentage is affected then the country’s population might face a greater challenge of job loss. Further, the US unemployment rate is approximately 7.6%, with off-shoring accounting for 2% of the service employees in the US. This is not a small number, since the same service industry is the largest in the US accounting for about 80% of employment therefore thus this might affect the US negatively on the labor sector (US Bureau of labor statistics).

Another survey according to Mc Kinsey highlights that the percentage of displaced workers who are not employed amounts to 31% further consolidating the case on the huge number of people who will be directly affected by outsourcing services. I also agree with the proposing side that the country risks facing losing the quality of customer service in its industrial sectors. This is because most of the personnel outsourced are not satisfactorily evaluated in terms of their competency and this might result to releasing low-quality products to the market. For example, the Dell Company in the US was forced to return call center operations for some of its product lines back to the US due to customers’ dissatisfaction with their services.

Moreover, outsourcing might also result in a weakened economy. This is because most of the outsourced workers focus mainly on their salary but not the economy of a given nation. Since they accept low pay, it means that there are fewer taxes collected on such pay. This might lead to a decline in the revenue collection of a nation. In addition, the low-quality product indeed invites less purchasing power, a direct effect on a company. A weakened economy may pose serious social and economical challenges to a nation. For instance, the high unemployment rate in the US is contributed by outsourcing, therefore, having adverse effects on the livelihoods of local communities. From my analysis of the debate, it is evident that a country that faces an economic crisis faces a high risk of criminal activities and other undesirable social vices.

Regarding the question of the impact of outsourcing to the US, I disagree with the proposer on the idea that the horizon of outsourcing seems to be broadening. To support this, it is important to examine outsourcing against the background of its limitations and challenges that threatens its existence and growth.  If this continues then there might be a total collapse in the Economy of the US. Outsourcing makes people divert their careers. My view on this is that there will be few people left in some occupations that are mostly outsourced. This might lead to a collapse of certain institutions of learning offering the same courses. If this happens, the nation is facing a high risk of lack of resource personel.US should therefore countercheck this and come up with sustainable long-term corrective mechanisms.

The proposer also talked about drug tests by outsourced persons from the US. Yes, it might be advantageous to the US, but what about the countries that manufacture these drugs? There will be labor competition, which brings a negative impact on such nations in their workforce. It is also evident that because of the global financial crisis, the US is taking back some of its services due to low savings which negatively affects its economy. To conclude my general analysis of the debate is that there are greater disadvantages than advantages to outsourcing. Countries that involve in outsourcing might face various economic, social, and educational challenges. The United States should therefore look at deeper concepts of outsourcing to avoid the problems discussed.