{"id":1411,"date":"2012-02-01T11:31:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T11:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/projects\/horsesforsources\/obama-in-sourcing_020112\/"},"modified":"2012-02-01T11:31:00","modified_gmt":"2012-02-01T11:31:00","slug":"obama-in-sourcing_020112","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/obama-in-sourcing_020112\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama’s in-sourcing initiative: does it have the teeth to rescue the US IT industry?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wonder if I'll get an invitation to Nasscom?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
As per usual, election year brings up the age-old argument about how to combat the “threat” of outsourcing. \u00a0However, let’s not forget this is nothing new..I recall in 2004 when an HR Outsourcing conference was subjected to a vociferous\u00a0demonstration\u00a0by anti-outsourcing protesters \u00a0(I mean – seriously \u00a0– HRO? \u00a0Most of it is onshore in\u00a0any case).<\/p>\n
Today’s angry hoards of protesters are (and quite rightly so) expressing anger at the obscene wealth generated by Wall St, and barely even notice the fact that real “American” companies, such as Apple, employs 500,000 people in Chinese factories and that lovely “American” Hanes underwear brand employs thousands of people in Vietnamese sweatshops.<\/p>\n
Yes, the argument is boring, flawed and jaded, and while\u00a0politicians\u00a0need to be seen<\/em> to be against it, they do little to prevent it. \u00a0However, one major stride of progress that Obama emphasized during his recent State of the Union speech has been how the US automotive industry has been brought back from the brink:<\/p>\n
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“This blueprint begins with American manufacturing.\u00a0<\/em>On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Some even said we should let it die. With a million jobs at stake, I refused to let that happen. In exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We got workers and automakers to settle their differences. We got the industry to retool and restructure. Today, General Motors is back on top as the world’s number one automaker. Chrysler has grown faster in the U.S. than any major car company. Ford is investing billions in U.S. plants and factories. And together, the entire industry added nearly 160,000 jobs.<\/em><\/p>\n
“We bet on American workers. We bet on American ingenuity. And tonight, the American auto industry is back.<\/em><\/p>\n
“What’s happening in Detroit can happen in other industries. It can happen in Cleveland and Pittsburgh and Raleigh. We can’t bring back every job that’s left our shores. But right now, it’s getting more expensive to do business in places like China. Meanwhile, America is more productive.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Why is the experience of the resurgent US\u00a0automotive\u00a0industry significant to resurrecting its flagging IT industry?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n