'Outsourcing leading to job losses is a myth'

The whole issue of outsourcing leading to job losses is a myth. Work has always been re-engineered and outsourced. Technology-based productivity increases are the reasons for job losses in manufacturing, not off-shoring! The ‘Future World of Work’ study also addressed the highly topical issue of off-shoring.

It is also a myth that China is ‘stealing’ all of USA’s manufacturing jobs. Our study has shown that over the last few years, China has lost over 15% or 16 million of its manufacturing jobs, while the US has lost around 11% or 2 million jobs during the same period. The reason appears not to be the movement of manufacturing from one country to the other, but as a result of an increase in technology, and subsequently in productivity, which in fact has risen considerably in both countries.