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Outsourcing Jobs

By Sue Gench

Please contact me at sgench@onlinetutorforenglish.com for questions and comments.

Overview:

In the last decade US corporate businesses have practiced a trend called outsourcing. Since 1990's American corporations have laid off American workers to cut labor cost in the United States, and then set up their factories and manufacturing plants abroad, especially in China and India to exploit highly trained ye tcheap workforce, and business friendly deregulated environment of these countries. Not hiring from the workforce of their own country or cutting down their own country's work workforce in order to hire cheap labor from other countries is a practice originated by US corporate business and are expanding into other industrial nations around the world in the last decade.This trend is called outsourcing. India and China are technologically advancing rapidly with their highly trained workforce in manufacturing of clothing, computer and digital communication products. Today, majority of US computer and digital products are made mostly in China or India. Apart from manufacturing industries US finance and banking industries hire Indians from India because English is the official language of this country and educated Indians speak fluent English. In addition to English fluency, Indians' hightech skills and exemplary work ethics induce American corporations to hire Indians as Computer Software Engineers and Online Customer Service Representatives. Below is a conversation on the topic of outsourcing.

Helen : Hi, Mary. It's good to see you. How have you been?

Mary: It's good to see you, too. I have just got a new job.

Helen : Oh! You were so happy about your job. You've worked there so long. How come?

Mary: Yes, I have. But my company is now outsourcing the jobs to China and India. So, I was laid off.

Helen : My Goodness! You have worked there so long? How many years was it?

Mary: I've worked for them fifteen years. They gave me one-year severance pay and a three-month notice.

Helen: Good Heavens!. How did you cope with that? I imagine it must have been very hard on you. Besides, you have two children.

Mary: I was devastated. It took me several months to pull myself together.Thank God. My husband works for government. There is no such a thing as outsourcing jobs in government. I've kept busy with my children for the first three months. Then, I started my job hunting.

Helen: Do you have a job now?

Mary: Yes, I have got a new job. It took me three months to get a new job. Now, I have got a new job since last month. I work as an office manager and earn much less in this job.

Helen : But, at least you have something. I hear a lot about job outsourcing of U.S. companies, it worries me a lot.

Mary: Yeah. It is a current trend in the U.S. economy. We'll talk more later. I have to go now. Here's my telephone number.

Helen: Here is mine, too. Call me sometime next week.

Mary: Ok. I'll do that. Happy Holidays to you and your family. See you again, Helen.

Helen : The same to you and your family, too. See you soon, Mary.

Vocabualry:

worry: intransitive and transitive verb. to feel anxious

job: n. work we do to make money

have got: the present perfect tense of "get". To obtain something recently (in this conversation)

to be happy about:to feel good about something, people, event, and etc.

How come: idiom. how is it possible?

company: n. the business we work for

outsource: v. to cut jobs in a domestic country and hire workers from other countries

laid off: past and past perfect of lay off. idiom verb.

lay off: idiom verb. to fire a worker

so long: adv. long time

severance: n. hard times, economic difficulty

pay: n. money we make by working at a job

severance pay: compound n. extra pay to help a worker survive for a short period of time

to cope with: idiom verb. to try hard to do our best in a difficult situation

to be shocked: idiom. to be extremely surprised. negative meaning

notice: n. a written statement to let a worker know he or she will be laid off

to be hard on someone: idiom phrase: to give hard time

to keep busy: to be busy continously

job hunting: idiom. looking for a job very hard

earn: v. to make money ( in this conversation)

worry someone: verb tr. to cause someone to worry

it worries me: something that causes me to worry

at least: adv. better than nothing

a lot: adv. so much

Yeah. informal Yes

trend: n. certain way of behavior

view v. to look at

see you again: informal: I wish to see you again

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