well thats nice that a local paper is talking up the good news but the reality is much more than any one company can do. Qualcomm might have federal contracts that limit its offshore hiring.
Tech Companies Focus on Asia to Expand Jobs
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Technology companies are seeing a rebound in business, but top executives this week said any jobs added to meet growing demand will likely be in countries where labor is cheaper than the United States.
Executives speaking at the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecommunications Summit in New York said they see increased hiring in countries like India and China, but few jobs will be added in the United States.
Michael Jordan, chief executive of technology services provider Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said EDS's number of employees in low-cost locations like India will rise to 20,000 from 9,000, by 2006.
Bruce Claflin, chief executive of network products maker 3Com Corp. (COMS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said the company's joint-venture with Huawei Technologies of China will add 1,000 engineers, all supplied by Huawei.
In the future, customers "won't know where the technology comes from," Claflin said.
Anne Mulcahy, chief executive of Xerox Corp. (XRX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , which has about 40 percent of its 60,000 employees outside the U.S., expects little hiring. "I don't really think we'll be adding people the way we used to," she said. Xerox has already handed over manufacturing of most printers to Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) of Singapore.
Only a few companies, such as International Business Machines Corp. (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , the world's No. 1 technology company, have announced plans to add jobs this year. But even IBM, which derives most of its sales abroad, plans to shift jobs to remain competitive.
U.S. technology employment fell 4 percent last year to just below 6 million, the American Electronics Association estimates, the lowest level since 1999. The unemployment rate for electrical and electronics engineers rose to a record 6.2 percent, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers said.
Ron Hira, a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology who analyzes manpower for the IEEE, said a recent decrease in the U.S. government's outlook for employment growth reflects the move to send U.S. technology jobs abroad.
Non-U.S. technology companies had a banner year in 2003. Jim Thomas, U.S. marketing vice president for Tata Consultancy Services of India, said Tata had double-digit growth in the United States, estimating overall U.S. business reached almost $1 billion from $880 million in fiscal 2002.
Tata, India's largest technology services company, saw "across the board" gains in many U.S. sectors, Thomas said.
reuters.com |
