CEOs defend moving jobs offshore at tech summit

IDG News Service - Moving IT jobs outside of the U.S. is necessary if technology companies want to remain competitive in a global market, a group of software vendor CEOs said today.
Most of the 11 CEOs defended moving some IT jobs outside of the U.S. during a panel discussion on "the next wave of innovation" at the Business Software Alliance's Global Tech Summit in Washington. Moving low-level IT jobs outside the U.S. doesn't take away jobs from U.S. workers, argued Tom Noonan, chairman, president and CEO of Internet Security Systems Inc. in Atlanta, because outsourcing allows cost savings and drives companies to focus their U.S. workforces on higher-paying IT jobs.
"The economic advantage is created by accelerating more jobs here in the U.S. because you move the day-to-day labor offshore," Noonan said. "This is not a displacement of jobs, in our mind, this is an enabler of good jobs."
Panel moderator Lou Dobbs, a CNN anchor, questioned whether companies are moving IT jobs offshore simply in order to pay the lowest possible wages. Art Coviello, president and CEO of RSA Security Inc. in Bedford, Mass., said he's worried about the political fallout over moving jobs from the U.S. to other countries.
"I absolutely think it's driven by the short-term profit margin," Coviello said. "But I think the unintended consequence is innovation." As low-wage jobs go overseas, the U.S. has been forced to invest in higher-wage, more innovative industries such as biotechnology and health care, he said.
Offshore outsourcing and the number of visas allowed to IT workers coming into the U.S. are becoming hot topics in Washington this year, as Congress considers whether to raise the number of H-1B visas allowed for 2004.
Driven by a stagnant economy and concerns over security, some state legislators across the U.S. have tried to stop the relocation of jobs by introducing bills prohibiting state governments projects from using offshore IT workers.
But the CEOs on the panel said the offshore moves provide several benefits, including access to highly skilled employees who want to work. "Those of us who are first in India, for instance, are seeing master's-degreed engineers that will do call center work," said Carol Bartz, chairman, CEO and president of Autodesk Inc. in San Rafael, Calif. "We're seeing people eager to have these jobs, not just showing up. Sure, it's cost-cutting, but we are seeing very high-quality labor; let's not diminish that."
Other IT CEOs on the panel argued that moving IT jobs is necessary in a global market, where 50% or more of