Question: U.S. corporations routinely outsource programming, customer support, data entry, and various back-office jobs to lower-paid workers in countries as diverse as India, Romania, and Ghana. Now higher-paying, increasingly sophisticated jobs are also moving abroad. Some countries develop technical specialties, as is the case with Sri Lanka that has an abundance of well-trained accountants who do work for giants such as HSBC and Aviva. That work sometimes involves routine bookkeeping, but it also entails sophisticated derivatives pricing and risk management. In the United States, accounting salaries average just under $60,000 while $5,900 is the norm in Sri Lanka.148
a. Is outsourcing good for America? Explain.
b. Are you confident that you will be competitive in the American market of the future where outsourcing seems destined to strip away big pieces of the job market? Explain.