Title :
Are U.S. jobs moving to China?
Author :
Donahoe, Daniel N. ; Pecht, Michael
Author_Institution :
CALCE Electron. Products & Syst. Center, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Abstract :
In the 1990\´s, there was a conscious drive to outsource much of the manufacturing in the U.S electronics industry. Initially the outsourcing was to contract manufacturers (those companies that assemble circuit boards and final products), mostly offshore and largely in China. Now, after the economic boom of the late 1990\´s, the engineering and technical jobs seem to be following manufacturing. Much of the world\´s commercial electronics are labeled "Made in China," and China now seems to be the only growing economy. After decades of western technical innovation, why is this transfer occuring? Is loss of engineering jobs just another consequence of globalization? What does the future hold? This paper addresses the nature and cause of the trend, predicts the future and provides a prescription for the U.S.
Keywords :
electronics industry; employment; technological forecasting; China; economy; electronics industry; future; globalization; manufacturing; outsourcing; Assembly; Consumer electronics; Contracts; Economic forecasting; Electronics industry; Employment; Globalization; Manufacturing; Outsourcing; Unemployment;
Journal_Title :
Components and Packaging Technologies, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TCAPT.2003.816655