Research outsourcing worries US

NEW YORK: The United States is the king of the hill in science and research but there are growing concerns that it might lose its competitive edge by outsourcing jobs which are on the bleeding edge of research to countries like India and China.

“Despite the negatives that come with offshoring, the majority of companies expect the trend to continue and plan to send an even wider variety of jobs offshore. Only 5 per cent of the companies we interviewed said their overseas operations would stabilise or contract,” noted a viewpoint column in the BusinessWeek.

“In other words, offshoring is a reality. The problem is that when jobs go, so does research. And this is ultimately what could threaten US competitiveness,” said the column warning that America is at risk of losing its ability to invent the next Internet or cell-phone technology.

The column drew on a study by University of Texas Professor Ted Rappaport which presents an analysis of research and development investments by US telecommunication firms over the past few years. Rappaport’s research shows that all but five of the 57 major research initiatives announced were located outside the US. “The professor believes that as a result, US students have lost interest in entering graduate school to pursue research in the telecom field,” said the BusinessWeek column.

It also pointed out that American political and business leaders who were raising the alarm about a shortage of engineers, and saying the US needed to compete with India and China in graduation rates and teach more math and science to children to get them up to speed were missing the woods for the trees.

“Our research shows it doesn’t matter how many engineers we graduate; if companies are prepared to go offshore, they’re willing to recruit and train raw talent,” said the article. “Education should always be improved, and math and science are really important, but education and graduation rates aren’t the issues to worry about right now. We could lose our competitive edge unless we figure out how to keep research in the US.”

A recent Pratt School of Engineering survey led by tech entrepreneur and Professor Vivek Wadhwa asked 78 senior executives of US firms questions about their experiences in offshoring engineering jobs. The report confirmed that outsourcing had indeed gained momentum.

“Jobs are going to India, China and Mexico. A wide variety of jobs are being offshore including analysis, design, development, testing,  maintenance and support,” Wadhwa told DNA while sharing the key findings of the report. “At least 75 per cent of US firms say that India has an adequate to large supply of entry level engineers — even more than in the US and China,” said Wadhwa. He said private firms in India were willing to get around a talent crunch by hiring raw engineers with shaky education and polishing them up in their own facilities till they came up to snuff.