The kind of employment infusion GOP supporters would be happy to see. (Photo Credit: CC BY/Paul Keller/Flickr)

Unemployment continues to run rampant in America and reports of a hiring thaw have been somewhat exaggerated. This news has failed to derail the partisan train, however. The Washington Post reports that Senate Republicans have managed to block a Democratic bill that would penalize U.S. companies for outsourcing jobs. Motion to debate the anti-outsourcing bill on the Senate floor failed, 53 to 45.

Anti-outsourcing bill could have brought jobs back to U.S. soil

According to the Post, the Democratic outsourcing bill would have raised taxes on corporations that move jobs overseas and rewarded companies that return jobs to the U.S. in the form of payroll tax hiatus incentives that would last two years. Outsourcing was viewed as a big issue by Senate Democrats, particularly after they’d decided to jettison middle class tax cuts before midterm elections. Showing concern for the manufacturing jobs lost by the American Midwest and East Coast could have scored Democrats major political points, writes the Post.

Wait until after the elections to decide

Such gamesmanship is common when seats are on the line. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and White House senior adviser David Axelrod may be determined to act before middle-class tax cuts expire in January (raising taxes on income, dividends, capital gains and inheritance), but first things first, politically speaking. Republicans want the cuts to be extended – perhaps because their version of the cuts would extend to wealthy campaign supporters – and while Democrats fear the political impact of raising taxes, they may also be uneasy about the economic impact of keeping taxes down. Whatever the case, America is waiting for a decision from Congress. Unfortunately, that decision appears to be on the back burner.

No tax news, no jobs returning home, no business but the usual

The Democrats estimate that the proposed “anti-outsourcing” measure would have cost $720 million over 10 years. While those numbers may seem as staggering as any other measure proposed by Congress, the potential influx of jobs back onto American soil could be a boon. That is, if businesses even maintain such jobs when they’re essentially forced to pay more for the same labor. If a business cannot compete from the U.S. against foreign markets, one might wonder what’s to stop them from seeing if the grass is greener on the other side? “Cash now” business as usual no longer fits the global economic climate.

Sources:

Washington Post

Cenk Uygur on GOP view of outsourcing

The remaining manufacturing projects involve more of a reliance on computers and sophisticated machinery, rather than manpower.

More and more Americans mistakenly believe that nothing is officially “Made in the USA” anymore. Though they are right that a lot of things did move to offshore manufacturing, there are still some items the U.S. is keeping for itself. The recession was hard on the manufacturing industry, and about 2 million workers lost their jobs. That alone created a huge portion of the unemployed public that had to struggle to get by. Part of the problem with manufacturing jobs is that most likely many of those positions will never return, and that leaves an entire group of workers who may never find equitable work to financially sustain themselves. It may take a considerable amount of effort and searching for them to regroup and reenter the market with a completely different set of skills.

Are things made in the U.S.?

The answer to whether things are still made in the United States is yes. Although toys, clothes and many electronic items are brought in from overseas due to the lower costs, there are still things that start and end in this country. American factories are making things—Ford trucks, airplanes, appliances, computer chip components and fertilizers are all examples of things U.S. companies are creating. Experts note that there has been a notable decline in manufacturing jobs, but not a decline in manufacturing. In fact, many companies are churning out just as much in product as they did pre-recession, but in different ways.

Some of the manufacturing projects that have remained in the system involve more of a reliance on computers and sophisticated machinery, rather than manpower. Many low-cost items like toothpaste and cleansers are manufactured with intricate machinery systems and require only a few humans to monitor consistent flow. Despite the huge loss of jobs in 2008 and 2009, overall the manufacturing sector’s output rose from 1987 to 2007, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

How things are changing in the job force

With the decline in manufacturing jobs, the market is making a shift. The service sector is the fastest growing market in the U.S. Jobs like financial planners, pay day lenders, real estate agents, lawyers and health care providers are all booming. The job markets for these positions are stable and in demand. That demand is projected to continue to rise in coming years. With baby boomers aging, they are going to need service-oriented workers to help them with decisions, care, and planning.

Where does manufacturing fit in now?

Though service jobs are on the rise and taking over in terms of immediate openings, it doesn’t mean that manufacturing jobs are out of the picture. The market is merely shifting. Manufacturing is still a huge part of the US economy. It is the best industries for people without a college degree to enter. Not only are wages good, but benefits can serve a breadwinner well. In addition, jobs in the manufacturing sector cater to people who like the old school method of working their way up in a company. No one is going to start as a nurse and work their way up to Chief of Staff. However, a worker on an assembly line can aspire realistically to work their way up to manager.

Where manufacturing is going in the future

Manufacturing is not dead in the U.S. Experts are cautioning that the country may be too reliant on overseas industrialization when it comes to high-end products. The repercussion is that the U.S. may be forgoing its research and development by outsourcing technical manufacturing to other countries. In particular with the world “going green,” the U.S. has to remain competitive and on its feet when it comes to bringing new advancements into the market. Time will tell what happens with the manufacturing world, but it is far from gone. The US will shift and change but most likely will start to bring high-end companies into the mix. That’s great news for the millions of workers who lost their jobs during the recession.

Letting Others Do the Work for You is Sometimes the Smartest Option

Outsourcing can bring about fast cash and the good news is that anyone can do it. For those not familiar with outsourcing, it is the act of subcontracting work to an individual or company as a way to lower costs, while also saving on time ordinarily spent performing such tasks. By simply delegating time-consuming or expensive responsibilities to an outside worker or agency, individuals in business are free to increase their productivity in other areas. At the same time, the primary business is also conserving energy and reducing the amount of office space needed.

Is Paying for Outsourced Work a New Concept?

Outsourcing as a way to make fast cash and as a business model is growing in popularity. However, outsourcing is not a new idea. One of its most widely recognized forms can be observed in the concept of hiring household help. By hiring a landscaper to care for the garden, a cleaning person to keep a home tidy and another person to maintain the pool, homeowners have been saving time for years by paying others to perform these duties. The time saved can then be applied to their personal and professional lives and their household chores do not suffer.

Outsourcing is a Great Idea for Small Business Owners

By outsourcing work, small business owners find they can perform just as a larger companies do sans the cost of additional space, time and employees. Without having to do everything themselves, they can focus on generating fast cash, save on time, money and equipment. Consider a company that outsources their regular payroll management. Without the small business owner needing to apply her precious time managing payroll or hiring a staff person to do so, she is able to effectively manage without offering a full-time wage, without offering employee benefits and while minimizing the amount of office space she needs to pay for and provide utilities for.

How Outsourcing is Turning into Fast Cash

Individual entrepreneurs interested in making fast cash know how to outsource work. An example is found in the Internet auction industry. While many toil away precious hours preparing auction listings, a niche industry has taken root that offers ways of making fast cash on both sides of the outsourcing equation. Many auctioneers are now passing along the task of listing items to third-party individuals and companies who specialize in doing so. For a flat fee or for a percentage of the final sale, auctioneers and listing agents are finding this to be a perfect fast cash addition to their businesses.

Use Caution When Outsourcing Work

When considering the option of outsourcing work, even to make fast cash, it is important to diligently research who the work is being offered to. While outsourcing can be an attractive way of making fast cash, it can produce a very costly disaster if the work is not competently performed. The lure of fast cash with minimal effort should never outweigh common sense. It is always best to ask to see a sample of one’s work and to seek recommendations of other business people workers have performed similar tasks for.

Beyond looking to merely create fast cash by outsourcing work, another crucial consideration lies in the reliability and confidentiality of the person or agency that work is being outsourced to. Often, work that is passed on consists of important financial information, identification and other sensitive data. In order to avoid being victimized by fraud or the leakage of such important data, due diligence in the background of the worker or agency work is given to cannot be stressed enough.

Increase Time and Fast Cash Through Outsourcing

Fast cash can be gained by outsourcing if intelligently strategized. While fast cash doesn’t necessarily guarantee overnight riches, outsourcing work can expedite the process, while saving business owners tons of time and money. Anyone looking for ways to make honest, fast cash would do well to also consider outsourcing as a means of saving money, time and resources.

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What goes on behind the glossy facade? (photo: geograph.org)

When you think of an investment bank, the image that probably comes to mind first is a well-dressed banker sitting in a plush office on the top floor of a skyscraper. He or she leisurely sorts through a stack of papers on the desk, or takes an important phone call, and then resumes discussing your company’s capital-raising plans, or answers your questions about investing in certain stocks or government funds.

This image may help explain the continued appeal to new college graduates of working in the investment- banking industry, but there is much more to the story than the well-dressed executives who conduct meetings with clients and take important phone calls. The bankers who meet with clients represent the most visible side of investment banking, but behind them stands a huge investment-banking operations staff responsible for maintaining the bank infrastructure – the framework within which all bank operations take place.

A closer look behind the scenes

Although investment-banking operations personnel may be less visible to the clientele, this does not diminish their important in ensuring that a multitude of transactions proceed smoothly and that client service is maintained at the high level that banks seek to attain. The basic function of the investment banking operations division is to provide administrative support for banking transactions and ensure that money transfers are carried out with the speed, accuracy, and trust bank customers expect.

Human resources management and public relations are also included within the broad category of investment banking operations.  Together, a bank’s operations, human resources and public relations employees keep the investment wheels turning.

Investment banks need computer experts as well as bankers

With the rise of computerized banking since the 1980s, implementing and ensuring the smooth operation of an investment bank’s computer systems has become a major part of every bank’s backstage activities.  Millions of transactions are recorded, monitored, and processed through the bank’s computers every day.

Given the huge sums of money banks routinely handle each day, and the serious risks that human error and employee fraud entail, a tremendous effort  must be invested in operations  side of investment banking. In terms of computer data security alone, a tremendous effort is required to satisfy the many duties owed to clients as well as countless  government regulations.

Outsourcing creates investment-industry jobs in the Third World

The relentless and intense pressure to reduce the cost of banking operations has encouraged many banks to outsource some of their most basic programming work.  China and the Indian subcontinen are two of the most frequent Third World countries on the receiving end of the outsourcing. Although outsourcing basic programming operations creates the potential for major savings, the challenges of remote supervision are far from insignificant.Additionally, the loss of employment opportunities in the country where the investment bank is based is always highly controversial.  The flip-side of the controversy, however, is that outsourcing relieves bank employees from the most mundane tasks and makes their work more satisfying.