Stop Outsourcing America

With more and more Americans losing their jobs and many of them from the corporate world, what can the government do to help get things turned around? Many of the unemployed are from the financial, insurance, technical, and banking sectors and most are the major income contributors for their families. So these people are now out of work because their companies have “downsized” due to the economy. But, in many cases, these jobs were still needed. These companies could not make money without someone doing these “downsized” jobs.

Many are outsourcing to other countries while they continue to layoff more and more every month. They are outsourcing by the millions to India for about 1/3 of the cost it is to keep the employee or contractor here in the U.S.A.  Is that fair?  Is it right?  Should there be a penalty for this type of “downsizing”? They are importing a person to do a job that could be easily filled here in the United States.  What would it take to make this “downsizing” stop?

Will it take the executives hanging out in the unemployement lines, or going to the courthouse steps to watch a house being auctioned off, or working in their own human resources department where they are overwhelmed with applications.  What will it take for them to open their eyes and see what they are doing to America?  All they seemed to be concerned with is their bottom line.  They are allowed to have blinders on because the government has told them it is O.K. We, the powerful U.S.A., need to help this third world country increase their economy.  What about our own economy?

Do these executives have a conscience?  Are the CEO’s sitting down with the person who is losing his job, and saying how sorry they are, but times are tough?  No, they are sending someone else, usually some sort of a director and a security guard to give them the news.  They then escort them out of the building like they were a suspected stealing something.  Afterwards, everyone that sat near them will let out a sigh of relief but know they could be next.  The desk is dismantled and taken away while his phone line is rerouted to India.

So what takes place next is even more disturbing.  The unemployed “downsized” very skilled workers are running out of places to find jobs, so they are seeking any kind of job. They have never been without a job.  So they look for work that does not require a skill or education because they have bills to pay.  Now this job, they would have never imagined working at in the first place, is being taken away from the unskilled workers, because these companies are thinking why not hire an MBA to work as a janitor or a food service personnel, it is the same pay. So the person with no skills that wanted to work is now on welfare, and foodstamps, living in government housing with no prospects of finding work, because when he does, 4000 other people show up to apply too.  What is the use of even trying.  Is this what they mean by “trickle down theory”?

Some say there is too much government in business today.  Because the government has stayed out of these corporations way, the taxpayers are paying the unemployment benefits for these workers. The taxpayers are bailing out the financial institutions (once again big corporations) who lent these unemployed workers money for homes, cars, and credit cards. The government is giving these same corporations tax benefits for outsourcing jobs that could be done by someone here at home. But many of these taxpayers are no longer paying the taxes, because they are no longer working. A portion of their salaries are going to India and the workers of India are definitely not paying taxes.

The trickle down of this “outsourcing” plays a big part of why we are in a recession. Sure the housing market crashed, stock market tanked, people are not spending, companies are losing money, but what about all those years they made money. What about these programmers, accountants, customer service, etc. who did a great job for them when business was good. Some investing a large part of their career and money to one company, now being let go so someone half way around the world who might be able to do their job for a third of their normal salary.

So when do American corporations say O.K. maybe we contributed to the problem of this recession, what can we do to make it right? Will it take a CEO’s son losing his job to India, getting forclosed on his home because he can’t find another job, and getting divorced because his wife and kids cannot take the stress? Or will it take a CEO losing his job with no fat bonus and then going to look for more work to find that there are none because they are outsourcing CEO’s too.

Now we have a nation of disgruntle citizens, those overqualified to work in some jobs, those with no jobs, and those with no chance of getting a job. Yet we have billions of dollars going to India because some partner did not want to give up his huge bonus check this year. While the employees he let go can’t afford to go to the grocery, he wants to go to golfing in Fiji. It is too bad most of us are guilty of being greedy and have spent more than we could afford, but this is our wake up call and most of us are trying to do the right thing. But the ones who could actually do something about it have decided to hit the snooze button. WAKE UP, STOP OUTSOURCING!