Perspective Outsourcing By Masako Yamada	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
仕事のアウトソーシング アメリカでは業務を海外に外注する会社が激増しています。いまや、製造関係のみならず、事務系の仕事も外注が進み、人々の関心を呼んでいます。雅子さんの会社でも、同じビル内の別の部署に送金するために、まずインドにある財務部門に必要書類を送らなければなりません。外注化は、安価な労働力でコスト削減ができる反面、雇用の流出といったマイナス面も伴う、複雑な問題です。

If I had a problem with any computer hardware, software or Internet services and I called a toll-free technical support hotline to ask questions, chances are high that the person picking up the phone will have an Indian accent. Indeed, even at my workplace, when we dial the local number for IT-related problems we are automatically routed to a call center in Bangalore, India.

This outsourcing of jobs is a red-hot topic at the moment. Manufacturing jobs have long been moving to countries where labor is cheaper, but white-collar jobs are now moving overseas as well. I'ｖe gotten used to the idea of India being the center for customer support, IT and computer programming tasks at my company, but recently I'ｖe been surprised that some financial, legal and even library transactions have also been moving abroad. The other day, I wanted my lab to transfer a few hundred dollars to another lab in the same building. The paperwork had to be faxed to the finance department in India.

Outsourcing is a complicated economic issue and it's difficult to argue whether it's beneficial or detrimental. Although Americans are sensitive to this topic, especially during national elections, politicians tend not to offer clear-cut statements on their stances. The fact is that Democrats and Republicans alike have mixed feelings about outsourcing.

The official stance of the Bush administration is that outsourcing is good for the U.S. economy. I'ｖe heard people express surprise at this, since Republicans are considered to take a lot of pride in products that are "Made in the U.S.A." In fact, the Republican view on trade is that corporations are in the business of making money, and the free-market should dictate economic activity, not the government. If companies benefit from hiring cheap labor abroad and consumers enjoy purchasing the end product ... well, what's wrong with that?

The problem is that this comes at the cost of American jobs. Whether one is a Democrat or Republican, losing one's job is difficult to accept, and politicians don't like to see disgruntled voters. As human beings, it's difficult to accept the idea that one's workplace contributions are easily replaceable, and the current fear is that one will be replaced by a better, cheaper and faster worker abroad. Unemployment is especially difficult to accept if one has spent years of training, either in school or on the job, and has specialized skills that don't transfer well to other occupations. Softy liberals have traditionally supported job-protection mechanisms such as unions or concepts such as paying a bit more to support local businesses, but these ideals do not get much support in a tough marketplace where consumers choose the cheapest product.

Americans want to have their cake and eat it too: They want well-paid jobs for themselves while enjoying low prices for goods at the store. It is difficult to achieve these two goals simultaneously while keeping all jobs within the United States. One can argue that moving only the low-paying jobs abroad can free Americans to pursue more interesting, higher-paying jobs ... but even having a Ph.D. does not make one immune to outsourcing. My company outsources the same kind of R＆D work that my colleagues and I perform in upstate New York, and many other companies have built research branches in India and China as well. The fact of the matter is that there are too few researchers in the United States, and India and China are overflowing with eager students who only cost the company a fraction of what the U.S. employees cost.

So how can the United States keep its edge? I recently read an article that said that "creativity" must now come to the fore. Americans must generate crazy ideas of the kind that are not cultivated abroad. Americans are nothing if not entrepreneurial and optimistic. I'ｖe met many people in this country who truly believe that they have it within them to change the world by inventing the next greatest widget. Such confidence can be irritating, but having lived here for so long, I have to admit that some of it has rubbed off on me too.

Shukan ST: Sept. 2, 2005

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