Outsourcing Foes 'Less Than Thrilled' With ObamaOutsourcing Foes 'Less Than Thrilled' With Obama

Many opponents of offshoring, the process by which IT and other jobs are shipped to low-cost countries like India, have blamed the GOP for supposedly selling out the American worker. But there's evidence that Team Obama won't act much differently.The fact is, President-elect Barack Obama's economic advisory board is stocked with major players from the tech world and other industries that rely heavily on outsourcing. It's all there in an interesting blog post this morning by Wall Street Journal reporter William Bulkeley.

Team members include former Treasury Secretary and Citigroup director Robert Rubin, Time Warner chairman Richard Parsons, and Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy, not to mention Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffet. Collectively, these individuals have controlled or advised companies that have outsourced tens of thousands of U.S. jobs.

"We're less than thrilled" about Obama's picks, WashTech spokeswoman Priyanka Josh tells Bulkeley. WashTech, a Seattle-based chapter of the Communications Workers of America, has long fought against outsourcing by Microsoft and other tech companies in the Northwest.

I find this all, at the very least, ironic. In numerous blogs I've tried to make the point that outsourcing, or globalization, or whatever you wish to call the Flat World phenomenon, is inevitable -- and that IT pros in this country need to add business and management skills to their technical knowledge if they want to stay employed.

That doesn't mean I'm for outsourcing, or against it. It simply means that, after extensive reporting on the subject and speaking to thousands of tech workers, executives, and vendors over the years, I'm convinced that there's no going back to IT isolationism. Fortran America, let's call it, is dead. That's because outsourcing is now an entrenched business practice at virtually every major U.S. company and billions have been invested in the creation of global supply and communications networks.

Still, some of my more polite critics have dismissed me as nothing more than a PR man for the GOP. Others have voiced opinions that are unprintable. And many predicted that the tide would turn as soon as Bush and Co. left office.

Can't say I blame them. Obama the campaigner mouthed predictable rhetoric about protecting American jobs and punishing companies that ship work offshore. But campaigning and governing are two different things, as the President-elect is starting to realize.

This is hardly a time to put neophytes in control of the economy, and Obama, to his credit, now appears to be adding a pragmatic note to "Change We Can Believe In" and "Yes We Can." That note says, "Whoa, let's not go crazy here." His key leadership picks, which include experienced business executives who have decided outsourcing equals efficiency, reflect that temperance.

This may come as a disappointment to those who hoped that Obama's first 100 days would see application development centers in India and South America shuttered and IBM executives jailed for treason. But it's surely a relief to CIOs who feared lost access to low-cost IT talent at a time when revenue is drying up.

What do you think?