This is another one of those stories that has a number of angles to it.
Though outsourcing of jobs to other nations has stirred a political uproar, a slide in the number of U.S. workers on foreign companies’ payrolls has gotten little notice.
So what does it all mean?
Here are some of the numbers.
In a new report looking at all 50 states, the number of workers in the United States employed by foreign companies dropped by 2.4 percent in 2004 to 5.12 million, marking the fourth consecutive annual decline.
My first question is: What constitutes a 'foreign company'? Does DaimlerChrysler count?
Since hitting an all-time high of 5.66 million workers in 2000, foreign company hiring of Americans has fallen by 9.6 percent. That four-year performance contrasts with a 43.1 percent surge in the six years from 1994 to 2000.
If you work for a US based company that gets bought out by a foreign conglomerate, do you automatically become a part of these statistics?
The latest total, 5.12 million, is down 9.6 percent from 2000. That drop raises concerns that the United States could be losing its edge in the global competition to generate jobs.
Well, if the opposite situation occurred: a foreign firm is bought out by a US company, the numbers look worse. It's not an issue of the US losing it's edge, it's just commerce.
Of course, in the spirit of full disclosure:
The new report, which the Associated Press obtained before its Wednesday release, was prepared by the Organization for International Investment, a Washington lobbying group for U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies.
So, I guess this report is not really a pure news story, but part of a lobbying effort. It's still another interesting analysis of what's happening in the global economy. Are we all just one, big happy family. Or separate national entities inclined to protect our own.
That's the $64,000 question.
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