What affect does "off-shoring" have on British jobs?

This, in essence, is the question tackled by Katerina Rüdiger of The Work Foundation.

The paper itself - Offshoring, a threat for the UK’s knowledge jobs? Globalisation and the extent and impact of offshore outsourcing - aims to provide a big picture account of this phenomenon by examining the extent and the nature of offshore outsourcing as well as its impact on the UK labour market.

In answering the question the paper, importantly, looks at the phenomenon itself (especially in relation to India), myths and perceptions of off-shoring, and, the extent and impact of off-shoring so far.

The conclusions are thoughtful and keep in check popular media portrayals of off-shoring.

There is also a discussion of the potential loss of 'knowledge work' in with the off-shoring of rudimentary work.

The most telling remark from the conclusion is to suggest "the scale and the impact of the phenomenon have often been exaggerated".

Only will time will tell if this will be true of the years to come.

No comments: