The Controversial Issue of Job-Outsourcing

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With the United States’ economy in a depression and our unemployment rate skyrocketing to record highs, job-outsourcing has moved to the top of the list of controversial issues. Froma Harrop’s essay New Threat to Skilled U.S. Workers and Thomas Friedman’s essay 30 Little Turtles discuss two different viewpoints of job-outsourcing, and their effects on society. Does our government really want to cut back on job-outsourcing, and what can society do to help the issue? Friedman’s standpoint on job-outsourcing shows how it is emotionally beneficial to other countries and Harrop’s factual standpoint shows job-outsourcing regulation, however, I feel that our citizens are unaware of the opportunities and our government is eager to send the jobs overseas.

Froma Harrop’s essay New Threat to Skilled U.S. Workers is a detailed and factual essay about the mystery of job-outsourcing. She also mentioned the long-term effects of the issue on our economy. Harrop’s audience for her essay leans towards skilled U.S. workers who are unaware that many jobs are moving overseas, but includes young college students as well. At the beginning of the essay Harrop immediately starts with an account from Alan Blinder, a Princeton economist. She describes his great displeasure after hearing how enthusiastic U.S. executives were while discussing job-outsourcing. Another pertinent piece of information included in Blinder’s account was his prediction that a great amount of jobs would be lost in the near future. “We speak of computer programing, book-keeping, graphic design and other careers once thought firmly planted in American soil” (Harrop 130) Harrop’s use of other sources helps give more credibility to the essay; however, it can decrease the complexity. Aft...

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...on. Harrop’s stories differed from Friedman’s in the fact that her’s were not first-person accounts and Friedman's were. Each author chose to take a different perspective on the issue, giving the readers two sides to consider. The biggest difference between these two essays is the fact that one is pro job-outsourcing and the other is con job-outsourcing.

Froma Harrop’s essay New Threat To Skilled U.S. Workers and Thomas Friedman’s essay 30 Little Turtles have more differences than similarities, but there is a lot of information that has not been covered by these two articles. First off, it seems as if our government is not putting in the effort to stop job-outsourcing. If they were, our nation would have higher regulations and laws against the H-1B visas. Instead, many government officials are voting to raise the number allotted to almost double the current amount.

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