Outsourcing Jobs
A term coined (created) to describe jobs that are given to people who live (usually) in countries where wages are lower. Can you figure out why companies would do this? (hint, it has something to do with, you guessed it: money!) What’s your opinion of company owners and executives who decide their company (or is it ”them”) isn’t making enough money, so they fire workers in the U.S. who make $60,000 a year and hire workers in, say, India or China, who are happy to get $25,000 a year. Where does the other $35,000 go?
There’s the other side of things, though. Seems consumers – people like you and me who buy those computers, or jeans, or comforters – want to pay as little as possible so we, too, have as much money as we can. So what if some poor schmoo in another country works ten hours a day? It means what we buy is cheaper, so we can buy more, more, more! (of course, if you’re out of a job, you’re not one of those people buying much of anything. How can get our economy going if fewer people have money to buy stuff?)
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Right now, the talk is all about money. At this critical point in the U.S. economy, people just want to be more frugal, right?
NOPE. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office, the unemployment rate was around 20%. He told a (sweater) company to lower prices by a lot. That way, more customers came to buy sweaters, and the company was saved. Furthermore, Newsweek’s most recent issue as of today (March 22, 2009) had a front cover that said,”I want YOU to spend more!” That’s the point.
Spending would keep companies in business. But they have to offer things we (a) want and (b) can afford. A designer clothes manufacturer, for instance, can cut out the $700 shirts and start closer to $35. They’d sell more, so would need to buy more material, so the textile company could stay in business, etc.
theavidreader Reply:
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:26 pm
I agree. By keeping companies in business, spending can also help lower the unemployment rate, which is now closer to 15% than to 5%. Circuit City simply failed because they didn’t meet the (a) requirement, as you said.
We’re supposed to write a post about outsourcing. What exactly?
do you think it’s a good idea? For whom? Is it necessary? Why didn’t companies used to do this in the, say, 50s and 70s? Are consumers as guilty about wanting to save money as are the company owners for whating to make money?
What’s really problem is human greed. While it’s not the direct problem, people can’t seem to resist cheapness, while companies act accordingly and move to China. Being in a recession doesn’t really help either… Just look at AIG.
theavidreader Reply:
March 29th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
It’s a vicious cycle. Human greed makes humans, as a consumer, not to buy products, so workers can’t earn that much money. The economy is in a tail-spin now, and we need some instant help from Barack Obama if we want to fix it.
Visitors! We suddenly had a boom–SA, another Egyptian, Alaskan,…
It all relates to money, CyPher96.
theavidreader Reply:
March 30th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Another visitor from Malaysia came.
bad bad people, especially from AIG