While Opinion Highly Divided, In Aggregate, Respondents Only Mildly Troubled about US Outsourcing of Production and Services

Views on outsourcing seem to depend largely on where one fits within the food chain and whether ones company has made the necessary transition. For the most part, however, most recognize the inevitability of this trend and even those that have remained competitive acknowledge the difficulty of the transition that needs to be made.

While the mean response (5.59) reflected a relatively neutral view in aggregate, the "V" shaped distribution led to a high deviation in responses with 22% of participating respondents indicating they found outsourcing extremely troubling (1) and 20% not at all troubling (10). This indicates an extreme divergence in opinion.

Concern over outsourcing could be seen in the comment of one troubled California-based VP of Manufacturing, who noted "We are busy giving away everything that made this country great. We are becoming Wal-Mart Inc. Just a retail operation, at the bottom end. Our aggregate quality of life will decline as the high paying technical-based jobs are replaced by low paying retail/service sector jobs. Maybe we should outsource the government and Wall Street to save money." A similar view was expressed by an Ohio-based Electronics Manufacturer who stated, "It's very concerning to see so much US infrastructure being outsourced to other countries. I am especially concerned about the unfair trade practices of some countries that discourage imports and/or keep they're currency artificially low." As a result, one Automotive Executive noted, "I think that is why this recovery is not a recovery at all."

A West Coast Sales Executive for a major IT component company also highlighted the potential negative consequences of this trend, commenting, "The US has lost its manufacturing base, the fall of our great country is written on the wall. Our current Administration in the White House is assuring the fall of this country." At the same time, however, he also added the comment placed at the beginning of this report, in which he stated "The economy is truly global in nature now. A business cannot afford to be patriotic. It must make money to survive. Either go international or die, it's that simple."

A Chief Engineer for an embedded systems company, however, commented on some of the reasons behind this paradox between personal concern and business imperative noting, "You’re dammed if you do, and dammed if you don't. The US cost structures are not competitive, and engineering in particular does not pay well enough in the US to attract the top domestic talent. As the engineering resource pool is globalized the effective domestic wages will continue to trend down. The US is destined to become a bit player in technology and will find itself outside the primary focus on mass produced consumer products. Like the UK before us we will continue to play a minor role in technology based on educational institutions, advanced research and the concentration of capital."

On the other hand, many respondents indicated they were not concerned. For example, one International Sales Manager for a mid-sized East Coast component and technology solution company stated "We make all our product here in the US and sell it all over the world." Similarly an Aerospace Engineer commented, "We are in the commercial aerospace business and growth in this market relies on a growing middle class in foreign markets. The outsourcing of jobs frees Americans to pursue greater innovations in technology, and allows foreign places to take care of the low-end manufacturing and design work. This increases our standard of living while at the same time it increases theirs. History as proven that this leads to growth, and greater prosperity for all." Additionally, the CEO for a firm that helps companies to manufacture structured ASIC’s noted "Wages are rising quickly in Indian and China as they are falling here. The supply/demand curve will even everything out."