Outsourcing Employees

It's time to discuss another topic related to jobs that I rarely hear our political leaders talking about.  Contract employees.  According to the Wall Street Journal article, "The End of Employees" by Lauren Weber, more and more companies are foregoing full time employees in favor of contract employees.  Here is the link to the article.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-end-of-employees-1486050443?mod=e2tw

This trend is allowing companies to adapt quicker to changing conditions with regards to their full time workforce.  It allows companies to manage costs better but usually leads to lower wages and less security for the workers.  Obviously this will also have ramifications with regards to benefits (and the lack there-of) for employees.  It appears to me that this is another reason for the need to have a healthcare system that will allow plans to cross state lines and easily follow people as they adapt to the changes in their work lives.  

The article notes that "At large firms, 20% to 50% of the total workforce often is outsourced, according to staffing executives."  This is just another way our labor force is being drastically changed from the past.  Further, Ms. Weber writes, "Steven Berkenfeld, an investment banker who has spent his career evaluating corporate strategies, says companies of all shapes and sizes are increasingly thinking like this: Can I automate it?  If not, can I outsource it?  If not, can I give it to an independent contractor or freelancer?"   

The American workforce is having to grapple with so many changes that it's no wonder that people are frustrated and looking for answers in the form of unconventional politicians.  The pace of these changes in technology, automation and outsourcing are contributing to the lack of mobility compared to previous generations.  Many workers simply do not know how to adapt to a workplace that looks so different than the past.

It's seems all too easy for politicians to ignore topics like this. I have discussed automation and the lack of mobility in previous posts. Here are the links to those posts.  

http://midwestmoderatemusings.blogspot.com/2016/12/automation.html

http://midwestmoderatemusings.blogspot.com/2017/02/get-moving-america.html

I firmly believe that pandering to our citizens with vague promises about "bringing back good manufacturing jobs" is doing a disservice to not only the workers but to our country.  We need to be having more realistic conversations about these changes that are happening.  How can we re-educate our workforce, provide incentives for them to be more mobile and ensure that they have adequate benefits in the face of so much outsourcing?  While we may be able to stem the flow of some job loss to other countries, these other pressures will still remain.  Changes cannot be managed by ignoring them and we must all look to the future and not to the past.