U.S. Executives: Outsourcing will Bring the Demise of American Business
Survey by the Largest $100k+ Online Job Resource, TheLadders.com, Reveals that Execs are Most Fearful of China as Threat to US Business
NEW YORK (November 7, 2005) - As US outsourcing expands to non-traditional sectors, from IT and call centers to after school tutors and flight attendants, it is clear that this cost-saving practice now permeates all aspects of the American economy. A common belief is that American workers are against outsourcing, and executives support it. A new survey by the largest $100k+ online job resource, TheLadders.com, shows that executives, in fact, believe that outsourcing is a major problem for American business.
Forty-three percent of the executives surveyed stated that outsourcing jobs to Asia would "ultimately cause the demise of American business." Twenty-four percent had a more moderate opinion of Asian outsourcing, and stated that it was "a reasonable solution to high U.S. labor costs," while 23 percent took the opposing stance, and said outsourcing was "the only way American companies can compete in a global business economy." Nine percent felt that outsourcing jobs to Asia was "morally wrong."
The debate also continues to rage over which Asian country is most poised to take a lead in the global economy, with China and India jockeying for top billing. China was the clear-cut winner in the TheLadders.com survey, with 61 percent of executives stating that it was the biggest challenge to American business. India took third in the poll, with 13 percent, behind "other American businesses" with 20 percent of the vote. The Middle East and Japan were not seen as major competition, garnering three percent and two percent respectively.
"Outsourcing remains one the most controversial issues facing American corporations today," stated TheLadders.com president and CEO, Marc Cenedella. "On one hand, US manufacturing jobs are being lost to overseas competition, yet we're seeing a large amount of job creation in the US at higher levels in industries like advertising, IT and marketing." Cenedella continued, "Companies developing in the new global economy, like Yahoo! and Google, can't hire fast enough. Companies that choose to outsource must effectively deal with major issues: IT security, personnel management, even working from different time zones can become a major issue when not handled with the proper insight. How companies handle matters will directly affect their growth and profitability for years to come"
TheLadders.com's look at outsourcing is based on a series of surveys of registered $100k+ executives conducted oby TheLadders.com between September 30th, 2005 and November 1st, 2005. The number of responses and margin of error for each survey is as follows:
- Outsourcing jobs to Asia is _______. 1874 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 2%.
- The biggest challenge to American business is coming from _______. 2022 Responses; Margin of Error +/- 2%.