Offshoring: How’s it Working Out for You?

By Joe Guzzardi
August 8, 2011

The claim first made ten years ago and repeated by Republican and Democratic administrations that corporate offshoring would increase domestic employment turned out to be a painful hoax perpetrated on American workers

Matthew Slaughter, a Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business professor and an economic advisor to George W. Bush, touted the universally accepted globalism mantra that “…for every one job that U.S. multinationals created abroad…they created nearly two U.S. jobs in their [U.S.-based] parents.” Today, Slaughter admits his error. In the meantime unemployed, indebted and foreclosed Americans pay the price for the federal government’s folly.

Despite the current administration’s ongoing rhetoric to the contrary, few well-paying jobs will be created near term. U. S. corporations find it more lucrative to do business overseas.

Here’s the evidence. According to a report issued July 27 by Moody’s Investor Services, U.S. non-financial corporate cash holdings rose to $1.24 trillion at the end of 2010 with nearly half of the total on deposit abroad. Apple, Inc., Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems, Inc., Pfizer, Inc. and Google, Inc. held the largest amounts of cash. The huge sums reflect the growing strength of major corporations’ international operations.

Based on a Moody’s internal survey, the agency concluded that: "We believe companies will keep this cash outside the U.S. as they pursue international acquisitions, invest in their own overseas operations or await tax breaks on overseas earnings they bring back to the U.S.”

Instead of broad-based hiring, major corporations hoard cash, slash domestic payroll and hire abroad. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, during the 2000s, companies cut their U.S. work forces by 2.9 million while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million. Compare that to the 1990s when large corporations added 4.4 million domestic jobs versus 2.7 million abroad.

Compounding the unemployment problem is that GE, Wal-Mart, Cisco, Oracle and dozens of others pay little if any federal income tax. Consider Microsoft which just released its fiscal fourth quarter statement that reflected record sales of nearly $17.4 billion, a 30 percent increase in after-tax profit and a 35 percent gain in earnings per share. On a $6.3 billion profit, Microsoft paid only 7 percent in taxes or a meager $445 million. Microsoft’s foreign earnings make up 68 percent of its overall income.

According to Microsoft’s IRS filings, over the past six years the company’s pre-tax profits booked overseas nearly tripled to $19.2 billion in the fiscal year just ended from $6.8 billion in the year ended June 2006. During the same four year period, its U.S. earnings have dropped to $8.9 billion from $11.4 billion.

Microsoft shrunk its tax bill by channeling global sales’ earnings through the low-tax havens of Ireland, Puerto Rico and Singapore.

To end offshoring and thereby restore American job opportunities, strong federal intervention is required—something light years away given the insidious link between Silicon Valley campaign donations and Capitol Hill.

A September 2010 effort failed when Senate Republicans blocked the Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act that included two amendments that would ensure that Americans are first in line for any domestic jobs. Currently, no similar legislation is pending.

Joe Guzzardi has written editorial columns—mostly about immigration and related social issues-since 1986. He is a Senior Writing Fellow for Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) and his columns are syndicated in various U.S. newspapers and websites. Contact him at [email protected].