Thomas Donahue, head of the US Chamber of Commerce, said that the only way to move forward is to provide people with the skills for success.
WASHINGTON: Maintaining that global outsourcing is an efficient way to "import" labour without cutting the job opportunities for Americans, the head of the US Chamber of Commerce said that no nation has prospered by shutting itself off and that the only way to move forward is to provide people with the skills for success.
"We can blame the competitors and attribute our own problems to the faults of others. We can retreat from the world and close our markets and borders in an effort to shield our workers and industries or we can remake ourselves and provide our people and businesses with the skills and tools they need to succeed," the President and CEO of the Chamber Thomas Donahue said.
Donohue's comments came in the wake of a note in a study done by the Chamber of Commerce titled "Global Engagement: How Americans Can Win and Prosper In the Worldwide Economy"--a report that drives home the advantages of outsourcing.
Citing statistics of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Fransisco of 2003, the Report said that out of every dollar of costs the United States moves offshore, it brings back a net benefit of USD 1.12 to USD 1.14.
"While we will see some growth in global sourcing we will not see a dearth of job opportunities for Americans in computer and other information technology jobs. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, these will be among the fastest growing occupations for Americans over the next decade" the Chamber Report said.
"The impact on the US jobs and white collar workers has been small," the report says pointing to a McKinsey study of 2003 showing 1.5 million service jobs were outsourced abroad from major developed countries including the United States to the developing world with the number projected to rise to a little more than four million by 2008.
"Our engagement with the world also enables us to win the global race for talent and tourists. Fifty million legal visitors enter our country each year, spending an estimated USD 100 billion in our critical travel and tourism sector," he said.
Donahue said that more than 500,000 foreign students and the world's leading researchers, scientists, and professors attend or are employed by our universities.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}