Gordon’s Committee Holds Hearing On Offshoring

June 12, 2007, WASHINGTON – Concerned about the potential impacts caused by offshoring of high-tech American jobs, U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon chaired a congressional hearing focused on keeping jobs on the nation’s soil.

“America’s competitiveness and high standard of living stem from our technological superiority, but offshoring poses a serious threat,” said Gordon. “We hear on an almost daily basis that more high-tech jobs are leaving the U.S. and going to developing countries.”

Recent reports have included numerous examples of offshoring, such as announcements that Accenture will soon have more employees in India than in the United States; IBM is expected to have 100,000 workers in India by 2010, accounting for more than 25 percent of its total workforce; and companies such as General Electric, Eli Lilly, Google and Microsoft are expanding research and development centers in India and China.

In addition, a University of Texas study found that 60 percent of this year’s major announcements of global telecom R&D facilities were for locations in Asia. Only nine percent of the facilities were located in the United States.

A witness at the hearing estimated that more than one in four American jobs is vulnerable to offshoring. In addition, he found that technical jobs in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields are amongst the most vulnerable to offshoring.

“Many workers in Middle Tennessee are anxious because they know people who have lost their jobs to offshoring,” said Gordon. “They have seen that it’s not always easy to find a new job nearby, and they have watched their friends struggle with unemployment for extended periods of time.”

Gordon has introduced a package of legislation aimed at boosting U.S. competitiveness and keeping jobs in the United States. His legislation includes efforts to boost math and science education to build a highly-skilled workforce prepared for the jobs of the future.

“Providing high-quality jobs for hard-working Americans must be our first priority,” said Gordon. “I understand that companies are responding to an increasingly globalized marketplace and high-tech workforce. What I want to do is ensure that companies keep jobs here because U.S. engineers, scientists and students are the most highly-skilled in the world.”