Into Thin Air

From Fast Company

Maybe offshoring is good for the economy in the long run. Maybe it will boost productivity and save companies. But it's causing real pain to real people. And they never thought it would happen to them. Look into their eyes.

 

 

 

What is best for Americans who must compete in a global economy?

In 2003, I heard the story of an American engineer working for a large, multi-national corporation in Florida.  Before the engineer was laid off, he was required to train a less-highly paid foreign worker to take his place at his desk.  The job was not even "offshored."  An American citizen's job was given away to a non-citizen within the boundaries of our own country! 

Like many white-collar, middle-class Americans, I had long-ignored the plight of the U.S. manufacturing sector from the 70's on.  After all, they had often produced goods that had become second-rate to cheaper, imported products.  If they weren't going to create desirable products, they deserved what they got ... but it wasn't the workers who "deserved what they got," it should have been the America's political and corporate leadership ...