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Offshoring Contributes to High Unemployment,
Poses Serious Challenges

WASHINGTON (18 March 2004) —  Offshoring contributes to high unemployment levels among U.S. technologists, and poses a serious, long-term challenge to the nation's technological and innovative leadership, its economic vitality and its military and homeland security, according to a position recently adopted by IEEE-USA.

"We must develop a coordinated national strategy to maintain U.S. technological leadership and promote job growth in the United States," IEEE-USA President John Steadman said. "But it's going to be difficult to remain technologically competitive, if we continue offshoring the jobs of our innovators at rates currently projected."

Offshoring, or the outsourcing of high-wage jobs from the United States to lower-wage countries, is contributing to unprecedented unemployment rates for U.S. electrical and electronics engineers (EEs) and other information technology professionals. The EE joblessness rate rose by 47.6 percent in 2003 to a record 6.2 percent, compared to 4.2 percent in 2002. The 2003 unemployment rate for computer scientists and systems
analysts reached an all-time high of 5.2 percent.

IEEE-USA also believes that new U.S. workforce assistance programs are needed to help displaced high-tech workers. One immediate step is to expand the Federal Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program's eligibility guidelines to cover all workers whose jobs move offshore. TAA extends unemployment compensation for up to two years, and offers job training, job search and health insurance assistance to eligible U.S. workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition.

The entire position statement, developed by the IEEE-USA Career & Workforce Policy Committee, is available at www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POSITIONS/offshoring.html.

IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The IEEE, created in 1973 to advance the public good, while promoting the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 225,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society. For more information, go to www.ieeeusa.org.

IEEE-USA
1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202
Washington, DC 20036-5104
Phone: 202-785-0017, Fax: 202-785-0835

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Last Updated: 05 March 2004
Staff Contact:  Chris McManes, c.mcmanes@ieee.org