Well this well certainly get things roiling: Twenty-eight metropolitan areas, representing almost 14% of the nation’s population, are likely to lose a disproportionate amount of jobs — between 3 to 5 % — to offshoring by 2015, with Boulder, CO; Lowell, MA; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; and Stamford, CT taking the hardest hits says a study from the Brookings Institute this week. Using occupational data, the Brookings study found:■ Large metropolitan areas and metropolitan areas in the Northeast and West are generally more vulnerable to service offshoring than small metropolitan areas or metropolitan areas in the Midwest or South. Job losses from service offshoring between 2004 and 2015 are projected at 2.4 percent for metropolitan areas with populations of one million or more but only 1.7 percent for metropolitan areas with populations below 250,000. About 2.3 percent of jobs in Northeastern and Western metropolitan areas are likely to be offshored, compared to 2.2 percent in Midwestern metropolitan areas and 2.1 percent in Southern ones. However, 158 metropolitan areas are likely to lose no more than 2 percent of their jobs as a result of service offshoring.■ Metropolitan areas with large concentrations of information technology service jobs or backoffice jobs are generally more vulnerable to service offshoring than other metropolitan areas. Between 2004 and 2015, service offshoring is likely to cause the loss of 2.6% of jobs in metropolitan areas that specialize in information technology services and 2.4 percent of jobs in metropolitan areas that specialize in back-office services but only 1.9% of jobs in other metropolitan areas.■ At least 17% of computer programming, software engineering, and data entry jobs are likely to be offshored in particular metropolitan areas. Employment of computer programmers, data entry keyers, and software engineers (applications) is projected to fall by at least 17% between 2004 and 2015 in Bergen-Passaic, NJ; Boston, MA; Boulder, CO; Danbury, CT; Denver, CO; Hartford, CT; Minneapolis, MN; Nashua, NH; Newark, NJ; Orange County, CA; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Stamford, CT; and Wilmington, DE because of service offshoring. In Bergen-Passaic, 14 to 17% of customer service representatives’ and insurance underwriters’ jobs are projected to move abroad. For a look at the study click here.
The impact of offshoring has been the source of much consternation over the years and the Washington think tank’s study, titled “The Implications of Service Offshoring for Metropolitan Economies,” will certainly add fuel to the fire.
