Exporting Jobs Overseas Will Harm America and Its Workforce

The enormous amount of jobs being outsourced to foreign countries over the past years has spurred many Americans to demand protection from the government. Three years ago nearly all fifty U.S states proposed legislation that would either prohibit or severely minimize outsourcing American jobs to foreign countries (Dunbar). Although outsourcing overseas is a good way for companies to stay competitive by gaining more profit, the government and the public should intervene to prohibit such a practice because of its negative impact on the U.S workforce, individual lives, and the economy.
To understand the nature of outsourcing from a non- business perspective, the practice simply means contracting out some of your functions that have been in-house to a firm outside of your business or allowing outsiders, usually small firms, to manage certain functions within your business. For instance, when a new car manufacturing company buys tyres from a supplier, rather than producing it in-house, that is outsourcing. Conventionally, such a practice is usually done among bigger companies (e.g. manufacturing companies) and smaller firms called third party logistics (e.g. UPS) within a country, but U.S companies have globalized the practice by sending some of their functions to foreign countries that has cheaper workforce.
Outsourcing overseas affects the U.S workforce. For example, jobs once held by Americans have been sent overseas by large companies in order to seek cheap labor, less environmental restrictions and lower tax rate. Manufacturing and construction companies have moved some of their functions overseas and have resulted into hundreds for their workers being layoff. For example, today about 30 percent of Intel’s microprocessors are build overseas and four of the six manufacturing facilities operated by Dell computer are outsource outside of the United States (Cook and Nyhan). Oracle, which has been handing thousands of layoff layoff notices, recently announced to move two thousand more jobs to India and China because the cost of labor in those are 20 to 50 fifty percent less than hourly wage in America for service sector jobs.
Moreover, outsourcing has lead to high increases in the unemployment rate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics in October 2008 reported that the unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage point to 6.5 percent and the number of unemployed persons increased by 603,000 to 10.1 million. In addition, over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 2.8 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 1.7 percentage points. In September 2008, manufacturing and construction made of 28 percent of the mass layoffs in the workforce. The report also stated that job losses continued in manufacturing, construction, and several service providing industries including health care and mining (B.L.S. 2008).
Outsourcing U.S jobs also affects individual lives, especially those who are in the technology, manufacturing and construction fields. For example, Ms. Myra Bronstein, a Mercer Island resident who worked for Watchmark- Comnitel, a U.S technology company, lost her software-testing job last year because her company shifted the work to India. Before her layoff, Ms. Bronstein was making $ 76,500 a year. Today with unemployment benefits exhausted, she has resorted to selling furniture and collectables on eBay (Cook and Nyhan).
Large companies that outsource jobs overseas also affect the economy by depriving it of revenue, which could help grow the economy. Jobs such as, call center servicing, medical transcription, tax return preparation, research and development , medical data analysis, and high level engineering, legal service, architecture and information technology that the government receives revenue from have been sent overseas by U.S companies. Some U.S economists have also estimated that more jobs will leave the United States by 2015. John C. McCarthy an analyst for market-research company, Forester Research Inc., has predicted that by 2015 U.S businesses will outsource at least 3.3 million white collars jobs to India, China, Russia, Pakistan and Vietnam (qtd.in Dunbar).
In addition, government has lost and is continuing to lose these jobs specifically in manufacturing and information technology. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports from January 2001 to January 2006, the information sector of the U.S economy lost 644,400 jobs, or 17.14 of percent of its work force. Computer system design and related work lost 105,000 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its workforce. Manufacturing lost 2.9 million jobs, almost 17 percent the manufacturing workforce (BLS 2008). These statistics are enough to show that outsourcing is hurting the U.S economy and its workforce, but companies are still involved in the practice. According to Lou Dobbs, the editor of CNN program, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Dell, Intel, Apple, American Express, Bank of America, Best Buy, Comcast, Ansell Health Care, Briggs Industries, General Motor, Direct T.V and AT &T are some of the big companies that are currently involved in the practice of outsourcing jobs outside of the United States.
Moreover, with the increase in the mass layoffs and the unemployment rates, outsourcing will lead to high government spending on welfare, which could probably affect the economy. For example, more people whose jobs have been and are on the way overseas will depend on the government for support after unemployment benefits have been exhausted. The U.S government will spend more money on a single individual and a household family because these displaced employees may never be able to find the same quality jobs that are lost to outsourcing overseas (Dobbs).
However, the CEOs and some economists have bitterly argued from a business perspective that outsourcing American jobs to foreign countries will help grow the economy, thus prohibiting the practice will keep the country from being globalized (Dunbar). A proponent of outsourcing, Gregory Mankiw, who is a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, said last year on a CNN business television program, Lou Dobbs Tonight that “Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade. [He continues]…I think outsourcing is a growing phenomenon, but it’s something that we should realize is probably a plus for the economy in the long run.” The only thing that is probable is that, the unemployment rate will continue to increase and more people will depend on the government for support if they do not find the same quality of jobs that would help support their families.
The most possible solution to the problem is for the government and the public to intervene for companies to bring back these jobs from overseas, which will help to decrease the current unemployment rate, create job opportunities and help to grow the economy. The government should intervene by restricting companies from sending jobs overseas, especially high paying jobs, because without good, high paying jobs there are no tax revenues to fund the education, health, infrastructure, and social security system. Once these restrictions are set, the government should grant incentive tax breaks to companies in order to encourage those companies that are already outsourcing functions overseas and companies that are trying to do the same to reverse their decisions. For example, the U.S Congress should pass 10% tax cut legislation for manufacturing, construction, service industries and other companies. This will help to convince companies that have moved jobs overseas due to high tax rate to rethink their decisions and bring back most of their functions, which would provide and keep good paying jobs in America. The U.S Congress and economic experts should also make the effort to document and study outsourcing from a business and non- business perspective. Both parties should acknowledge that outsourcing U.S jobs to foreign countries has caused problems and it has lessened the morale of U.S workers.
Furthermore, there must be a full disclosure. The government should require companies to make consumers aware of where products are made and when those products are the result of jobs lost due to outsourcing. State governments should pass legislation to eradicate unionization by employees. Companies sometime relocate their operations overseas when employees allow union organization/labor group to oversee their interest by advocating for increases in salary and more benefits.
The public should also intervene through immediate campaigning to emphasize the importance of economic patriotism. They should stress the need for the federal government and companies to prohibit the practice of outsourcing because it has caused thousands of people to become unemployed. The public should also caution its state governments that would promote outsourcing jobs to foreign countries, by writing to their governors and congressional representatives to prohibit companies within the states from sending jobs overseas. Furthermore, they should reject products that are produce overseas by these companies through effective campaigning by sending warning letters to companies involved and educating the public through the media about the negative impacts outsourcing has caused to the U.S workforce, individual lives and the economy. Ron Hira, an expert on outsourcing, and Anil Hira, a specialist in international economics, suggest that “Americans need to recognize that it priorities of national competitiveness and security include maintaining a technological edge and encourage the engineers, scientists and programmers to keep the United States a step ahead of its potential enemies”(Hira and Hira 11) . One way to maintain these priorities and encourage scientists, and engineers is for both the government and the public to join hands to severely minimize the practice of outsourcing job overseas and to sponsor the development of community colleges within various states and to reduce college tuition fees and text books costs.
These interventions from the government and the public will help to severely minimize outsourcing and force companies to reverse their enormous export of jobs to foreign countries, which will help to restore jobs back to the American people. The return of these jobs will limit government spending on welfare because these companies will employ old and new workers in the workforce. Companies will create new job opportunities for high school students, undergraduates, and graduate students, which will help improve the standard of living and encourage more students to learn without fear of having their jobs outsourced to foreign countries.
Furthermore, bringing back these jobs to the United States will allow companies to provide job training and advanced education scholarships for employees and make companies focus more on research and development, which will also help grow the economy. For example, people will buy new homes, new cars, pay government taxes on time, and buy other necessities. In addition, it will help to decrease the unemployment rate and minimize the current mass layoffs in the manufacturing, construction and service industries. Finally, restoring these jobs for the American people will restore pride to the workforce, encourage growth in the economy and make the workforce more productive and efficient.





Work Cited
Bureau of Labor Statistics. .
Cook, John and Nyhan, Paul. “Outsourcing’s long-term effects on the U.S jobs at issue.” Seattle Post Intelligencer 10 March 2004. 11 Nov 2008 .
Dobbs, Lou. “Exporting America.”CNN program. 10 Nov.2008 .
Dobbs, Lou. “Outsourcing Harms America.” Does Outsourcing Harm America?
Ed. Katherine Read Dunbar. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2006. 11-23.
Hira, Ron and Anil Hira. Outsourcing America. New York. Amacon Books, 2005
Robert, Paul Craig. “As Jobs Leave America’s Shores.” 30 Sept 2006. Nov 11 2008 .

Somalia at Sea Piracy

More than 17 years of civil unrest, Somalia has limped along a brutal path of warring clans, and separatist movements that have collectively bestowed upon the state the dubious honour of being the world’s truest “failed state,” and its coastal line has the world’s dangerous maritime route. One of the results of this instability is piracy on Somalia’s territorial waters. By disrupting transportation and trade, piracy has led to starvation, negative impacts on global maritime trade and increased armed conflict within Somalia and other parts of the region.
The lack of central government in Somalia has led to lawlessness on its coastline. Since the fall of national government in the early 90s there has been instability and power struggle between the national government and Islamic insurgents. Today the continuous greed for power has caused many Somalian to live without good shelters, balanced diet, jobs, schools and the lack of good medical aid. The decades of civil unrest has led to insecurity and lack of job opportunity, which has caused young unemployed men to become pirates in order to find a source of income. These unemployed men known universally as Somalia pirates are groups of well- armed men that use fast-moving skiffs to pull alongside their prey and scamper on board with ladders or sometimes even rusty grappling hooks. Once on deck, they hold the crew at gunpoint until a ransom is paid, usually $1 million to $2 million (Brice 1). The International Herald Tribune online publication reported that, as of the month of October 2008, more than 75 ships have been hijacked by Somalia pirates on the Gulf of Aden in demand for ransom over 5 millions before each vessels can be released(Gentleman 1). In 2005, since the rebels captured the national port from the government, Somalia’s lawlessness had extended beyond its territorial waters. The lawlessness has caused piracy on the Gulf of Aden, which has resulted into the worst humanitarian crises in the history of East Africa and the world (Brice 1).
Pirates’ activities in Somalia have caused the majority of the population to starve. Because of pirates attacks on vessels, humanitarian ships have suspended food aid to these poor people who are desperately in need of food supplies and medical aid. The United Nation World Food Program (UNWFP) that has been helping to feed thousands of people in war torn Somalia was forced to suspend its food supplies in October because of the escalating attacks on vessels. According to the spoke man for UNWFP, the organization is currently afraid due to the aggressive attacks on vessels because 95 percent of its food supplies are transported by sea. Today because of piracy on the coast of Somalia, thousands of people residing in displaced camps due to the ongoing instability in the country are currently suffering from food shortage (Brice 1).
Piracy on the coast of Somalia has also disrupted maritime trade. The huge demand for millions of dollars and the aggressive attacks on vessels by Somalia pirates along the Gulf of Aden, which has the southern gateway to the heavily trafficked Suez Canal, has also affected global maritime trade. According to the International Maritime Organization, over 48,000 vessels traveled on these bodies of waters every year, transporting oil from the Middle East to North America and goods from Asia to Europe. The presence of pirates has decreased the amount of vessels and has led to high increases in insurances, shipment transportation and fuel costs. Their danger on the coast has caused ships extra days to deliver goods to final destinations, which has led to high fuel consumptions because vessels transporting goods from Asia to Europe now have to travel around Cape of Good Hope to get to Europe. Instead of one or two weeks of delivery, vessels have to take three to four weeks before delivering goods to customers, which might also lead to products deprecation and damages (IMO).
Even the act of piracy on the coast of Somalia has led to an increase in armed conflict within the country and other parts of the region. Ransom collected from vessels is helping to provide arm and ammunitions for rebels in Somalia and the Darfur region. The Chatham House, a London based institute that study international issues reported in October 2008 that $18 to $30 million paid by hijacked vessels this year is helping to support the war in Somalia. As a result of the financial support, there has been continuous violence in the country. Rebels have burned down towns and villages and they have raped women and forced children to become child soldiers. Their presence on the coast has also inflamed the crises in neighboring country Sudan (Middleton 1).
However, despite all the attacks and instability one possible solution to this problem is stabilized government with well-equipped military that would protect its territorial waters because the present interim government lacks the military power to do so due to Islamic insurgent attacks. Somalia needs urgent western interventions from the international community to possibly help to resolve the war and clear piracy of its coast in order to allowed food aid into the country and restore the ease on maritime trade. With the help of Western intervention and the cooperation of the current interim government, Somalia can have stabilized government and an effective military coast guard and police to stop its sea lawlessness.








Work Cited
Brice, Author. “Somalia piracy threatens trade, boosts terrorists, analysis say.”
The CNN News. 1 Oct.2008. Oct 18, 2008 .
Gentleman, Jeffery. “Somalia's pirates flourish in a lawless nation.” International Herald Tribune: The global edition of New York Times. 31 Oct.2008. Dec 1, 2008 .
International Maritime Organization. .
Middleton, Roger. “Piracy in Somalia: Threatening Global Trade, Feeding Local Wars.” The Chatham House online publication. Oct.2008. Oct 31, 2008 .

Academics First, Sport Second: the No Pass, No Play Rule

Excelling at extracurricular activities is exciting and rewarding and should be encouraged, but not at the expense of academics. As student athletes, it is easy to get caught up with the notion of becoming a top college player and even a professional athlete with all the huge benefits and lifestyle that go along with it. Nevertheless, where does your future lie if you miss a scholarship or a chance of becoming a professional athlete? Thanks to the No pass, No play rules in Texas, now some academics standard have been required among high school athletes in the state over the last decades. Even though there has been a major controversy among Texas high school coaches, parents, fans and student athletes about the No pass, No play rules, the provision has had a positive impact on high school student athletes.
Texans became concerned about the poor performance in high school test scores and the literacy rate among high school students 28 year ago. The public noticed that high school athletes were paying more attention to meeting coaches’ expectations than putting much time to studying their lessons. In 1983, due to the enormous grievances from the public about their children’s future, Texas Governor Mark White decided to appoint an education committee to study the state education reform policy. The committee headed by Dallas billionaire, Ross Perot came up with several sweeping proposals, including the No pass, No play controversial provision.


Although the No pass, No play law was the only provision that caused controversial debate, other provisions that made up the House Bill 72 contain new requirements for teachers, including competency testing and certification for high school graduates. Both provisions were enacted in 1984 and took immediate effect during the 1985-86 school years, but only the No pass, No play law was later amended in 1995 because of its controversy. Before its 1995 amendments, the law required a high school student athlete to pass all courses including advance placement, international baccalaureates and dual college courses with a minimum grade of 70 and above before being allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities (e.g. football, band, tennis, soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball, swimming, track, etc). In addition, the law bans students that failed in a course during the instructional periods from participating in a school sponsored program for six weeks until the grade has been improved and confirmed by an instructor (Texas State Library).
The early birth of the law in the late 80s affected some student athletes that took sport greater than academic. For example, a student named Gray Edward at Carter High school in Dallas was one of the first victims of the law. Edward became ineligible to participate in his school playoff match in the late 80s because of a 68.75 average in Algebra. His mathematic professor refused to add the two points because being a top linebacker and key player on the school team, Edward refused to sit in class for lectures (Bissinger 291-312). Moreover, the No pass, No play law also affected a famous track and field student athlete named Doyle Jones, who at the time held the national high school state record for 100 meter and 200 meter dashes, and was denied participation in the 1989 state championship because of a 62 average in English (Mathis 1).
However, both cases resulted into lawsuits involving parents, coaches, fans, administration, and student athlete themselves. These lawsuits made opponents of No pass, No play law argue that the purpose of the law was to deprive kids the right to participate in extracurricular activities. They further argued that by denying kids the right to participate in extracurricular activities because of poor academic performance is effectively denying them a valid educational opportunity. On the other hand, proponents of No pass, No play have also argued that students affected by the No pass, No play rule will not only try to improve their test score, but they will examine their priority in order to see academics as a future rather than sports (Burnett 2000).
Although there has been controversy among coaches, parents, and fans that the law was going to create a high drop out rate and low eligibility in extracurricular activities, the No pass, No play law has had some positive impact on students. For example, student athletes now put more attention to studies and at the same time perform better in extracurricular activities. The law has encouraged coaches and athletic parents to develop a small program in order to help student athletes maintain their eligibility and stay active on the team. Team sports, such as football that has more then 25 members, have made a team oath to help those who are academically performing poorly by organizing study groups to help one another succeed. According to the Austin Independent School District Office of Research and Evaluation, since the passage of the law more students have remained eligible to participate in extracurricular activities. The study shows that student athletes have had the largest increase in the eligibility rate from 47 percent in the fall of 1984-85 to 60 percent in the fall of 1992-93. Moreover, since the No pass, No play law was implemented the percentage of students taking honor classes has increased by 13 points from 35 percent during 1984-85, to 48 percent in 1992 (Sabatno).
In 1995, eleven years after the education standard was implemented for student athletes all over the state, another reform took place that revised the standard of the 1984 No pass, No Play provision. The new amendments allow a student with failing grades to practice on the team and to compete after three weeks, instead of six weeks, after the grade improves. It also allows school districts to exempt advance placement, international baccalaureates and dual college courses. The purpose of the 1995 amendment was to create a level playing field among school districts and to give high school student athletes the opportunity to choose classes that they could handle while being active on the team, but the new reform law did not work out for everyone. Some school districts took advantage of the law and exempted multiple classes (Ayres 1).
For example, Austin Independent School District exempted 100 classes, while Southlake School District, which is the home to the premier football program, did not exempt any course. These enormous exemptions of classes made representatives that constructed the law regret making such changes. According to The Dallas Morning News, Rep. Sadler who chaired the House education committee that changed the 1984 No pass, No play provision said, “[i] don’t think we would ever have envisioned [well known] school being allowed to exempt 100 different classes. I never imagined that school districts would exempt 100 classes. That is just beyond belief to me,” said Rep. Sadler an acknowledged expert on Texas educational laws. “It creates an uneven playing field”, Rep. Sadler said (Ayres 1).
Even though the new law allowed school districts to exempt classes and students to participate in extracurricular activities, both the old and the new laws serve today as guidance for Texas high school athletes. According to Texas State Library and Archives, Texas was the first state to pass such a law in United States and other states have followed since the 90s (Texas State Library). The law made parents and coaches to become more involved in student athletes academics achievements while the student combined sport skills with good education foundation.
Moreover, the law has helped high school student athletes recognize the significance of academics, realizing that good academics performance is the key attraction to today college coaches. Sports are wonderful and can use as an opportunity to get quality education, but student athletes need to take academics first and sport second because education is the key to a better tomorrow. The popularity of your sport might fade away, but your education will forever remain with you.












Work Cited

Ayres, Karen. “School districts find way around no-pass-no-play.” The Dallas Morning News.
20 Jan. 2007. 3 Sept.2008 .
Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2003. 291-312.
Burnett, Mitchell. A. “One Strike and You’re Out: An analysis of No Pass/No Play Policies.”
High School Journal. V84 n2 Dec. (2000): p1-6.
Mathis, Nancy. “’ No –Pass, No-Play’ at 5: Texas Statue Still a Controversial Mode for Reform.” Education Week. 17 May. 1989. 15 Sept.2008 .
Sabatino, Melissa. “A Look Back at the No Pass/No Play Provision.” Executive Summary 93.05 Austin Independent School District Office of Research and Evaluation. May 1994 (3-12). .
Texas State Library & Archives Commission. “Press conference by White, August 8, 1985.”
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