In the Article “The New Global Job Shift,” found in the February 3, 2003 BusinessWeek, Pete Engardio, Aaron Bernstein, and others discussed the new facet of globalization involving domestic “upscale”, white-collar jobs shifting offshore. (Bernstein, pg1) Corporate downsizing and layoffs are a common topic in business media as companies struggle to obtain economic efficiency and to reach the forbidden fruit of reduced overseas operational costs. Companies in several different business sectors are flocking to underdeveloped countries like China, India, or Russia in order to operate with lower employment costs. Domestic research analysts have identified market trends, which explain possible reasons for this boom in business operational restructuring and they continue to forecast possible effects on the Western economy with globalization of basic white-collar jobs in under-developed countries around the globe.
The problem with this shift of job availability overseas is creeping up on those domestically holding jobs involving research, engineering, and financial analysis. Free trade started by “moving production of clothes, appliances, and other manufacturing industries off shore” and allowed companies to “shave overhead costs and improve efficiency.” (Bernstein, pg3) Now corporate America is shifting “routine service and engineering tasks” as well as other skilled jobs to countries that have a “surplus of educated workers.” (Bernstein, pg3) Countries like the Philippines and China are turning out higher numbers of skilled professionals per year than in the United States, many of which hold degrees obtained in the United States. (Bernstein, pg4) For example, “Gaurav Daga works as a project manager for Windows softwar ...