During his summer internship, University senior Daniel Mundra worked in a close-knit office at a round table surrounded by his colleagues. He often sat next to his boss and collaborated with him on projects. Mundra considers the experience unique because few companies use such an intimate set-up. Others would consider the experience unique because Mundra was working in Pune, India as part of a computer program team contracted by the American firm Fidelity Investments.
American businesses have been sending jobs overseas for years; the trend isn’t new. But a recent study shows that the practice of “offshoring” has the potential to affect Oregon more than many suspected. The Oregon Fair Trade Campaign released an analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, stating that 18.3 percent, nearly one in five, of Oregon jobs are vulnerable to offshoring.

The study also showed that the workers whose jobs are mostly likely to be offshored typically have a four-year college degree. These people usually work in positions that pay more – $8,000 more, on average – than people with jobs unlikely to be offshored and are therefore more expensive for companies to maintain.
The study listed the top 100 jobs in Oregon likely to be offshored and a majority of them correspond with majors offered at the University. Vulnerable careers listed fall under computer technology, electronics, finance, customer service, mathematics, journalism, and even the sciences.
From business administration to computer science, from journalism students who want to be copy editors to English majors who eventually become secretaries, students of numerous majors might see their future careers affected.
Oregon companies are being faced with the option of outsourcing, but some are tying to avoid it.
Albany, Ore.-based pharmaceutical company Tec Laboratories spokesperson Gary Burris said in an e-mail: “Outsourcing is definitely an issue because we compete with many other companies who use outsourcing. With that said, we do everything in our power to eliminate the need to outsource any part of our manufacturing process or customer service process.”
Burris said the company doesn’t feel threatened by outsourcing.
“For now, we are in an excellent position to keep doing things the way we’ve been doing them for the last 30 years,” he said in the e-mail.
Others don’t see offshoring as an issue, either. University senior Ian Gowen, who is earning his degree in computer science, doesn’t feel threatened by the practice, but also says he wouldn’t move for his job. Already having obtained a video game programming job, he hasn’t given offshoring a lot of thought.
“I was peripherally aware; I didn’t know the number was that high,” he said.
After experiencing offshoring first-hand, Mundra had a different perspective: It’s helping the economy. He said that American companies can come to India and create innovations at levels India hasn’t reached yet. “We can apply that knowledge to help India, in a way,” he said.
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