The Hindu Business Line : US needs more outsourcing: Pressler

STATING that he was "pro-outsourcing", Mr Larry Pressler, US Senator, on Friday rejected the contention that outsourcing had led to job losses and said that US economy needed more immigration and outsourcing.

"I am pro-outsourcing. I am a free trader. I think outsourcing creates more jobs back home, cuts cost and increases efficiency, and there is more money left for development," said Mr Pressler, who is currently visiting the Capital.

Speaking in favour of greater immigration, Mr Pressler said that he had opposed lowering of the H1B visa cap.

"I have opposed it. I think we have technological edge from these H1B visas. We are losing the intellectual edge in US, and people who give us that developmental edge are immigrants. I think we should revert to the old system."

Rejecting the premise that outsourcing had led to job losses in US, he said that outsourcing of services created more jobs in the long run.

"I think we need to realise that the US economy needs more workers and also needs outsourcing. We do not have enough people to perform all the functions. A lot of companies cannot find enough employees to open a new factory."

He added that 5-6 per cent unemployment rate in US was a misnomer as two per cent of the workforce were temporary workers.

"In the case of another two per cent, it has been said by economists that they just do not work ... We almost have full employment. We are short of workers, and the same is true even for high-end software work, as we do not have many engineering students."

Mr Pressler also said that trade was a two-way street and that India had to open up more. "India has to have less rhetoric against investment. Both sides have room for improvement."

According to him, the controversy surrounding outsourcing would continue even after elections in November, although "people are now taking a sober assessment of it and the talk about it has quietened."

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