Executives from Silicon Valley to the Wall Street are adamant that shifting white-collar jobs from the United States to developing countries is good business, but a backlash is brewing. Indiana’s state government cancelled a $15 million contract with an Indian consulting firm in November. And eight states voted on bills last year, that would ban the use of tax payer money on contracts with foreign workers. The states and several others are expected to consider similar bills this year. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry says he would require overseas call centers to disclose their location—the new economy version of the ‘Made in America’ label.The Massachusetts senator said he wouldn’t ban outsourcing, but would provide tax credits to companies that maintain US factories and ‘‘close every single loophole that gives companies incentives to move jobs abroad.’’ Outsourcing critics say Americans have been complacent about the loss of technology jobs to overseas workers since the trend began in the late 1990s. But with elections in both the US and India, they believe 2004 could be a turning point.‘‘Politicians can’t outsource the vote,’’ said Scott Kirwin, founder of Delaware-based lobbying group Information Technology Professionals Association of America (ITPAA), which compiles data from nearly 100 anti-outsourcing web sites. Kirwin, who launched ITPAA after a large investment bank asked him to train the Indian worker who then replaced him, said only broad consumer revolt will reverse the trend. ‘‘In the 1980s, many people boycotted companies that did business with the apartheid regime in South Africa,’’ he said. ‘‘Many of those same people have more money today and don’t like doing business with companies from countries that work against US politically, like France, or economically, like India and China. Consumer activism is an important part of putting the brakes on the outsourcing movement.’’ Indiana’s failed contract with Tata Consultancy Services, and customer complaints that prompted Dell Inc to reroute some help desk calls from India to Idaho in November, worry Indians, who have received billions of dollars in outsourcing contracts.Tata’s bid was about $8 million lower than bids from two US firms. Indiana officials subsequently restructured the contract to let Indiana companies partner with universities or other consulting firms and compete against MNCs. Experts say India needn’t worry; Indiana and Dell are high-profile exceptions to what has become the rule of outsourcing.
