Outsourcing & The Simpsons

Yesterday I was flipping through the channels when I came across an old episode of the Simpsons. In the episode the nuclear power plant that Homer works for begins to outsource positions to India. As I am watching this episode, I cannot help but think about my current situation at work. I watched several of my friends leave as the company began to outsource to a company with employees in India and the Philippines. It's not enough that the state of our economy has forced various departments to have lay offs but to also lose many employees to outsourcing is very troubling.

Some people may see outsourcing as an incredible thing. Granted in the business and economic world, there are many benefits with outsourcing. Companies are able to save money and usually underdeveloped, third world nations are able to see an increase in GDP. However, there are many ethical issues that arise when it comes to outsourcing.

When companies decide to outsource they must layoff several employees here in the U.S. The job loss results in a decrease in spending and income in our own economy. There is also the conditions of the employees oversease. Companies are able to save money by paying very little to employees overseas that are so strapped for cash, that they are willing to take pennies for hard work in miserable conditions. In a sense the companies are taking advantage of the incredible need in these countries.

Where is the win in the case of outsourcing? Bigwigs will say the decrease in production costs will result in a decrease in costs which means consumers will be able to save big. However, with the struggling economy, and high unemployment rates, the average individual is being more cautious in their spending. As a result, the companies are still losing money and still begging the goverment for a bailout. The government gets its money from taxes. An individual pays more taxes when he is making money. As such when the labor force is depleted due to outsourcing the government loses money. So where do companies expect to get the money from these big bailouts?

Maybe they should outsource their bailout requests?

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