New York — While the majority of workers said that the offshore outsourcing of jobs is bad for the U.S. economy, they don’t think their own jobs will be impacted, according to a survey by staffing firm Hudson.
Of 2,814 workers polled, 66 percent said that the outsourcing of jobs overseas is bad for the economy, and 51 percent think the government should penalize companies that outsource jobs to other countries, Hudson noted.
Maybe it’s because they don’t think their jobs are in danger. Overall, 84 percent of workers polled said that it isn’t likely that their jobs would be moved offshore. When asked how likely is it that they could be moved to another country, 70 percent said not at all likely; 14 percent said not very likely; 6 percent said very likely; 9 percent said somewhat likely, and 2 percent weren’t sure.
More than two-thirds (69 percent) said that it isn’t at all likely that their company will move jobs to another country in the near future. Fifty-nine percent of workers believe their companies are more likely to outsource jobs to American companies to achieve cost savings and reduce payrolls, rather than moving jobs overseas. Nine percent said their firm would more likely move jobs overseas to cut costs, while 32 percent weren’t sure which was more likely.
Younger workers are more likely than older ones to think that their job could be moved to another country, according to Hudson. Only 2 percent of workers over 40 believe it likely.
The poll also revealed a stark contrast in attitudes between manufacturing and service workers. While 33 percent of manufacturing workers believe their jobs could be moved, only 11 percent of service workers shared that view.
