There has been a lot of talk recently about American jobs moving overseas…offshoring is the buzzword for it. During difficult economic times it is often easy to find a scapegoat to blame for a downturn in jobs. While government reports and politicians try to downplay the impact, offshoring is something to take seriously. This article will discuss the permanent effect offshoring will have on U.S. jobs and what you can do to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.

Economic crises of the last thirty years have tended to blames overseas competitors for America’s financial woes. During the seventies it was foreign steel to blame and during the eighties it was foreign agriculture. The current trend of moving American jobs overseas, particularly to India, The Phillipines and other developing nations has been troubling to many. While some people think this is a temporary situation, shifts in the American economy and world politics indicate otherwise.

One of the effects of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War has been the increased globalization of trade. On this continent, economic borders have opened up due to the North America Free Trade Act (NAFTA). In Europe, the collapse of the Iron Curtain has opened the borders of the eastern countries. And the European Union has made a significant impact on the economy; standardizing currency in 13 countries in 2000 and adding 10 new member nations last month…mostly former Eastern Bloc nations. Even China has joined the global free market, contributing $620 billion in trade to the world’s markets in 2002. China has taken control of Taiwan and regained Asia’s economic powerhouse – Hong Kong – after 100 years of British rule.

These global economic changes are big and they will not go away. American companies have taken advantage of the global market, establishing icons of American culture like fast food, retail stores and computer software everywhere. With all these events and situations, it only makes sense that American companies would turn to foreign labor.

Besides, the economic impact of the world’s political shift, the American economy has transformed itself. The rise of the computer has shifted the United States economy from an industrial nation to a nation of information and service. This means there will be less jobs in making things and more jobs in marketing and servicing things. Unfortunately the American education system has been ill prepared for this inevitable change. In the mid to late nineties, thousands of well paying computer jobs went to foreign nationals on temporary work visas. Additionally, domestic workers on a whole will move from being permanently hired employees to contract or temporary employees. As a worker, it will be more important to market yourself, keep a good network of contacts and maintain your technical skills.

Although this news sounds grim, it’s really not. Most of the jobs going overseas are in the lower salary ranges like customer service and technical support positions. Meanwhile, the new “hot jobs” pay very competitively, even for workers who lack employment experience.

If you’re afraid your job may be going overseas, or you want a better paying career with more advancement opportunities, take a look at these hot jobs:

1. IT Security
2. IT Project Management
3. IT Outsource Management
4. IT Database Administrators
5. Health Care - Medical Assistant
6. Health Care – Nursing
7. Health Care – Home Health
8. Health Care – Dental Hygienists
9. Health Care - Medical Coding
10. Health Care – Medical Office Administration