Abstract
Recent trends in the American workplace are suggesting that outsourcing is becoming more commonplace, and currently no job or its work product may be safe from outsourcing. American blue-collar workers are certainly not surprised by these trends because they have experienced outsourcing related job losses since the early 1970s. Even those white-collar jobs traditionally considered immune to outsourcing pressures, such as those held by medical specialists, are now threatened. Most workers know outsourcing as a process whereby a domestic firm transfers some portion of their work product or a job to a different firm that resides either onshore in America or offshore in some foreign land. The transferring domestic firm contracts with one of these firms, intending to make that new firm its outside supplier. Although most transferring firms see outsourcing as a positive business experience, some work transfers have both intended and unintended consequences. Some transfers may produce a net loss of jobs within the affected sector. Others may create a downward pressure on wage earnings of the affected worker, especially in labor intensive areas, such as those in manufacturing. In still others, workers may even experience personal stresses, such as increased anxiety or fear that are related to their worries over impending or future job losses. These personal stressors may also place an additional burden on affected workers by compelling them to make fewer demands on their managers. Some workers may come to believe that issuing fewer demands will translate into a greater likelihood that they will keep their jobs. Unfortunately, their beliefs may be misguided.
Recommended Citation
Archie A. Alexander III, American Diagnostic Radiology Moves Offshore: Where Is the Internet Wave into a Regulatory Abyss, 20 J.L. & Health 199 (2006-2007)
Comments
Perspectives: American Diagnostic Radiology Moves Offshore: Where Is the Internet Wave Taking This Field