Will Your Job be Exported

In my opinion the problem of outsourcing for the future generations, as stated in the article by Ian S. Blinder is a bit exaggeration in present times. If I were to hear this statement ten years ago I would have responded differently than I am now. The reason being that the problem is not new and is not just a problem for the future generation; it is indeed a matter of concern for the present i.e. our generation too. Anyone who has tried to acquire a job in Information technology or service industry can relate to this issue. In past one decade or so, thousands of manufacturing, IT and HR functions have been expunged in the U.S. as a result of outsourcing. In fact today in most organizations the idea of outsourcing is considered first before hiring any new employee. Due to changing times and fierce competition, good education is no longer the only criteria for getting a well-paid job; one needs to have the right set of skill too. Impervious professions such as healthcare jobs that were considered not offshorable before aren't immune to such trends anymore. Telemedicine is one such avenue which is fast emerging and is taking over many of the jobs traditionally performed by an onsite physician or nurse. There are several healthcare professionals such as—physicians, surgeons, nurses who have had to reduce their number of working hours as some of their duties can now be performed by another person sitting miles away or by hi-tech computers (Robots). So today, in my opinion, no job is recession proof or offshoring proof. But then what is the solution as just talking about the issue and not doing anything won't do any good to anyone. Government and educational institutes can play a larger role here. Due to high unemployment figures our Government has tried to create jobs and introduce programs to help displaced workers. Providing right training to right kind of people will be beneficial for the entire society. Since there is very little we can do to stop offshoring due to Corporate and Government policies; a change in a way we get our education or choosing the right path can be help avoid some of the pain associated with offsourcing.