The debate for many years has been whether or not trade agreements help American workers or cause the loss of jobs to foreign workers and lower wages. Corporations are in business to generate a profit, but at what cost to Americans and the economy? What is the ethical choice when it comes to offshoring and outsourcing jobs and how honest should a corporation be about the use of this practice? Some of the businesses that have moved jobs to foreign countries are heralded as being innovative and get praise and recognition all the while the unemployed American workers lives are being shipwrecked and their futures throw into turmoil.
Adam Smith published his book The Wealth of Nations in 1776 and argued for free trade and better lives for all citizens. …show more content…
In 2005, a year before RRD purchased OfficeTiger, LPC had its first workforce reduction (WFR), the push to offshore work with OfficeTiger had begun. With RRD taking control of OfficeTiger in 2006, the work in Chennai was being done by fellow employees. According to Vern, “RRD wasn’t forthcoming about the work being done offshore and hid this fact from our customers.” In fact, employees were told they were not allowed to mention that work was not being done in LPC and efforts were made to hide what was happening when customers would visit LPC. The time that it took for operators in Chennai to understand the processes and customer expectations took a few years. “The American workers in LPC had to take the criticism for quality complaints about work that wasn’t being done here,” says Vern. In 2005, LPC had close to 250 employees, this includes salaried and hourly works as well as employees at a few satellite sites. That number has been reduced to 72 total employees today and many are only working 30 hour weeks. These were all good paying jobs with most making at least $50,000 a year. Many of these employees had college degrees and years of training in prepress
Adam Smith published his book The Wealth of Nations in 1776 and argued for free trade and better lives for all citizens. …show more content…
In 2005, a year before RRD purchased OfficeTiger, LPC had its first workforce reduction (WFR), the push to offshore work with OfficeTiger had begun. With RRD taking control of OfficeTiger in 2006, the work in Chennai was being done by fellow employees. According to Vern, “RRD wasn’t forthcoming about the work being done offshore and hid this fact from our customers.” In fact, employees were told they were not allowed to mention that work was not being done in LPC and efforts were made to hide what was happening when customers would visit LPC. The time that it took for operators in Chennai to understand the processes and customer expectations took a few years. “The American workers in LPC had to take the criticism for quality complaints about work that wasn’t being done here,” says Vern. In 2005, LPC had close to 250 employees, this includes salaried and hourly works as well as employees at a few satellite sites. That number has been reduced to 72 total employees today and many are only working 30 hour weeks. These were all good paying jobs with most making at least $50,000 a year. Many of these employees had college degrees and years of training in prepress