Jobs are more likely to be shipped overseas from Silicon Valley and the nine Bay Area counties than any other region in the nation. The SF Chonicle is running an ongoing series of articles that challenge what we think we know about the issue. Today's in-depth coverage is recommended reading.
Sen. John Kerry, derides "Benedict Arnold CEOs" who send job overseas, yet as this article in today's SF Chronicle Business section proves, his view is not shared by many of Silicon Valley's top executives who are staunch Dem supporters and mega-donors.
Straight from the mouth: Executives speak out
"You sound like a piano player in the old days when there were 35,000 piano players playing in the front of every movie theater when they had silent movies. You're saying, 'Who's going to employ all of us now that they have sound embedded in the films?' Gang, we've got brains. There will be lots to do. What's an American company? We do half our business internationally. Does that make us an international company or a U.S. company?Global companies grow globally. Shouldn't India be a little upset that we have most of their software programmers here? Who's making the value judgments here? "Scott McNealy
Chairman and CEO
Sun Microsystems***
U.S. corporations' first responsibility is to their shareholders. You cannot say, 'I'm going to put national interests ahead of shareholder interests.' That said, well-managed companies are able to balance the interests of their investors, the interest of their employees and the interest of the countries in which they serve. Our company derives half its revenue from outside the United States. And while we are a U.S. company, we have active operations in dozens of other countries. So we have an equal obligation in places where customers provide the underpinning revenue that helps grow our business. "John Thompson
Chairman and CEO
Symantec Corp.***
"We're at an interesting turning point on this topic in the U.S. Some well- meaning people argue that we have to take drastic measures and put up various barriers to protect American jobs. My personal view is the facts absolutely refute that. Over a long period of time, increased economic activity in China and India and anyplace else in the world will lead to more opportunities and economic growth - not less. That's the result you want.In the next few years, will (American) jobs be lost? Absolutely. But after all we've been through in the last 30 or 40 years, I'm not sure who in manufacturing in the U. S. in 2003 thinks their job is permanently going to stay in the U.S. "Marc Andreessen
Chairman
Opsware
***
"This is the big argument I had with Ross Perot on NAFTA (the North America Free Trade Agreement). Perot said, "My God, if we do this, Mexico will get a lot of good jobs."Isn't that a terrible thing? That a poor country like Mexico would get a lot of jobs.Can you imagine, isn't that awful? I think it's great. I think NAFTA is great. Free trade will not only help the United States, but will transform India, China and the world into a more prosperous place. "Larry Ellison
CEO
Oracle***
"There is no job that is America's God-given right anymore. It's interesting to me that so many people talk about China or India or Russia as being a source of low-cost labor. Truthfully, over the long term, the greater threat is the source of well-educated labor. And if you look at the number of college- educated students that China graduates every year, it's close to 40 million. The law of large numbers is fairly compelling. "Carly Fiorina
Chairman and CEO
Hewlett-Packard
Senator Feinstein recently sponsored a bill to prevent US banks from transferring customer data to out-sourced accounting, debt collection and customer call centers. That horse bolted the gate twenty years ago when credit cards went global and more recently as debit cards, ATMs and cell phones began to dispense cash world-wide. The good senator obviously doesn't shop online either.
Another Dem bugaboo is that our medical records will be pawed by a foreigner and sold for profit. As if our domestic hospitals, HMOs and insurance industry isn't in the data mining business. However, not all are eager to out-source.
"Our medical record information will be done in the U.S. It's not going to be outsourced. It's not going offshore. "George Halverson
Chairman and CEO
Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Hospitals Inc
Data collection and analysis by SRI and researchers at UC Berkeley reached a different conclusion about job loss than the Dems class warfare cant and old media's conventional wisdom:
I would add that worker's comp increases, over-regulation and tax burdens levied by Gray Davis accelerated downsizing and many of the job losses Kerry laments were sent out-of-state to Nevada, Arizona or off-shore by the Dems themselves.
Offshoring's giant target: the Bay Area
Silicon Valley could face export of 1 in 6 jobs -- worst in nationDespite the growing worker outrage about offshoring, researchers agree it's not the top reason people are losing jobs or having trouble finding new ones. Of the California jobs at highest risk to outsourcing, most of the 200, 000 lost between 2001 and 2003 were casualties of the tech crash, not overseas relocation, the UC Berkeley researchers say.
"Probably more jobs were lost due to normal automation or capital invested that improves productivity, rather than offshoring," said John "Matty" Mathieson, director of the Center for Science, Technology and Economic Development at research institute SRI International.
The Chron's economics writer, Sam Zuckerman offers an insight into the economics of offshoring: Economic Arguments.
However the quote that struck me as demonstrative of just how out of touch our elected officals are, and how little they understand real-life economics, is this one:
On Thursday, the Senate voted to prevent federal contractors from using tax dollars to move American jobs offshore, despite the opposition of numerous Republicans. Another federal bill -- backed by Kerry, among others -- would require call-center operators to disclose where they are. ("Good morning, this is Dell tech support in Bangalore.")
BUWHAHAHAHA!
Right. I was totally confused about that.
Senator Kerry, the Indian accent might be a large clue that the call center is not in Kansas. Jeebus, are consumers really that dumb?