Michael Kanellos provides a perspective on what the US can do on the outsourcing phenomenon: “In a sense, the software industry is going through what the hardware manufacturing industry experienced 15 years ago when PC and chip manufacturing migrated to Taiwan. First, Taiwan specialized in manufacturing basic products like circuit boards. Now it makes around half the world’s notebooks and designs many of them as well. Classic tech employees aren’t the only ones affected: Some media companies now use cheaper copy editors in India to produce the news.”
His recommendations for the US:
Educational system needs to be strengthened so that more high-school graduates will eventually be directed toward the most challenging fields. Politicians and high-tech companies should reinvigorate the concept of the melting pot: Rather than discourage foreign students or workers coming here, the United States should court them. Third, the United States should take stock of its inherent skills. Although universities overseas have been catching up with the United States in terms of minting graduates, the United States still has an edge when it comes to project management and marketing.
The last word: “Smart people are going to be born overseas. The best thing the United States can do is woo them.”
