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6/20/04
OUTSOURCING US employees are concerned about the outsourcing of jobs abroad, but many do not believe that they will be personally affected by the trend, according to a new survey. In all, 66 percent of the 2,814 workers polled by Hudson Global Resources, a global staffing and consulting firm, said that offshore outsourcing is bad for the national economy. At the same time, 84 percent believe their jobs will not be affected by the movement of jobs abroad. Although 15 percent of the respondents said their jobs will be directly impacted by offshore outsourcing, the survey found that many were confident about their future job prospects. They also said that their companies were more likely to outsource jobs to US firms to achieve cost savings than send work to companies or subsidiaries overseas. ''We were surprised by the strength of the sentiment against offshore outsourcing despite the limited personal impact reported by the workforce,'' said Jeff Anderson, senior vice president of Hudson. ''In fact, half of the surveyed workers opposed the practice so strongly that they advocate government penalties against companies that outsource jobs to offshore locations.'' According to recent national reports, employees have some reason for concern. Forrester Research, the Cambridge technology research firm, reported this month that US employers will increase the number of white-collar jobs shipped overseas to about 588,000 this year, up from 315,000 last year. The company said the flow of jobs abroad would likely include software development, computer programming, customer service, accounting, legal paperwork, and research and development, increasing the number of positions sent overseas to 830,000 by 2005. That's 41 percent higher than this year's projected amount. Forrester contends that 3.4 million jobs will go to China, India, Mexico, the Philippines, and Russia by 2015. The jobs that will remain here include service positions that require ongoing contact with consumers and clients such as teaching, nursing, dentistry, and other services. But another report painted a different picture. This month, the Labor Department said that few layoffs were caused by offshore outsourcing. The department said in its report that just 4,633 jobs went abroad in the first three months of 2004, or about 2 percent of the nearly 240,000 workers who lost work in the private sector because of layoffs between January and March 2004. The Labor Department's report only included layoffs at companies employing 50 workers or more, where at least 50 people filed a claim for unemployment insurance benefits over a five-week period. The downsized workers had to be out of work for at least 30 days. The Hudson poll found that manufacturing and service workers had different views about outsourcing. Factory or production workers were less confident about their jobs, Hudson researchers found. In all, 33 percent felt their jobs could be moved to another country. However, only 11 percent of service workers felt they could lose their jobs as companies cut costs by shipping some work abroad. When Hudson focused more closely on the manufacturing firms, it found that 27 percent of the workers felt that, given the choice, their employers would send jobs abroad. By contrast, 54 percent of factory workers said their employers are more likely to shift jobs to other vendors in the United States to reduce payrolls.
JOB CANDIDATES A warning to employers: Check job candidates' credentials thoroughly. A review of 7,000 executive résumés by Christian & Timbers, a global head-hunting firm, reveals that 23 percent of executives misrepresent or exaggerate their accomplishments. The following problems were found in the executive résumés reviewed:
Stephen Mader, chief executive officer of the Cleveland firm, said the problems usually don't surface until an employer is serious about a candidate and begins to delve deeper. Despite misgivings about a candidate's résumé, some companies will ignore the information because they are having a tough time finding people with the right skills, training, or educational background. ''People will falsely declare that they have a degree or title that they never in fact owned,'' he said. ''Even as the economy has started to recover, we continue to see this trend in the résumés that cross our desks. Yet, many companies, even after they discover misleading information such as distorted graduation dates or forgery of responsibilities, still have an interest in hiring the candidate.''
SERVICE WORKERS The Massachusetts Legislature has enacted a new law that will protect hotel, restaurant, and other service employees who are asked to share their tips with employers. The bill, signed into law this month by Governor Mitt Romney, forbids Massachusetts employers from forcing employees to put their tips in a pool that is shared among managers and owners. It also states that employers who violate the provision could face civil citations or penalties. The law also includes criminal fines of up to $25,000 and jail time of up to two years for employers who violate the statute. Under the law, employees have three years to bring a legal claim against an employer who violates the statute, according to Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly. ''The legislation protects service employees, including wait staff and bartenders, baggage handlers, hair dressers, valets, taxicab drivers and others who depend largely on tip income for their livelihood,'' said Reilly. Under state law, the minimum hourly wage is $6.75. However, employers can pay workers who get a significant portion of their pay from tips an hourly wage of $2.63 per hour. For example, waiters and waitresses fall into this category. The Legislature's actions stem from complaints in 1999 from sky caps at Logan International Airport who claimed they were not allowed to keep their tips. The workers, who had been employed at the airport for up to 20 years, filed a complaint with the attorney general's office.
CHILD CARE The number of stay-at-home fathers in the United States is rising, reports the staffing firm, Ajilon Finance. The firm, which studied US Census data, found that the number of fathers who are caring for children at home while wives work has risen 70 percent since 1990 and totals almost 1 million. By contrast, the number of home-bound mothers has increased only 8 percent in the same period. --DIANE E. LEWIS
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