Workers at the New Balance factory in this suburb of Boston create the sound of "made in the USA." The company, striving in a world dominated by Nike, Adidas and Reebok, keeps 25 percent of its manufacturing in America ? the only company to make any athletic shoes here. "Our labor costs are 10 to 12 times higher," says President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Tompkins. "But productivity at New Balance's five U.S. plants is much greater, lowering other costs. We're able to deliver into the market in a matter of days, where our competitors are looking at a matter of weeks and sometimes months."
A new era of globalization began in the 1980s and brought along a significant decline in costs of transportation, communication, production, and considerably improved inter country competitiveness; and broke down trade and cultural barriers among countries. Over the years as world trade has liberalized, outsourcing has become a favorable tool of businesses in the developed world. Businesses are increasingly turning to India, China and Costa Rica to take advantage of their English-speaking, educated and well trained workforce. In the next pages I will try to highlight the Pro and Cons of offshore Outsourcing, outlining the current and future trends in Outsourcing as well as the ethical implications.
The trend of relocating jobs to other countries is not a new development in the United States as manufacturing jobs have declined ever since American companies started to establish factories abroad to take advantage of lower cost structures and wages. The decline in manufacturing jobs, however, was compensated for by greater job opportunities in the service sector. Since most jobs in the service sector were higher paid 'white-collar' jobs, losing the relatively low-paid manufactu ...