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 In the research conducted by Ernst & Young, among
600 (IT) managers and directors, they conclude
that Dutch managers do not quite know what
position they should take regarding off-shore
outsourcing. In the Netherlands a rather heated
debate is going on about offshore outsourcing and
the possible labor market effects. Labor unions,
(IT) managers, independent sources, IT research
organizations as well as politicians and political
parties have expressed their, often opposing
opinions in the last few months. FNV Bondgenoten,
a large labor union, estimated about 50,000 IT job
losses in the coming 5 years (about 10,000 each
year) while the 600 (IT) managers E&Y questioned
put the same figure about 15,000 job losses as a
result of offshore outsourcing in 2004 only. These
are the most pessimistic numbers though. Numbers
and opinion differ significantly from 1000 to
15,000 job losses annually. Others, as in the USA,
have the opinion that offshore outsourcing will
have a positive effect on the Dutch IT sector and
labor market and offshoring (and outsourcing in
general) is probably just another hype which hit
the IT sector world wide. |
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According
to the E&Y research – Trends in ICT/ICT Barometer -
reported by the Automatisering Gids, 79% of the
questioned think that offshore outsourcing will have a
negative effect on the Dutch IT labor market.
Interestingly, representing a conservative standing
point, 39% of the respondents said that there are strong
and adequate
reasons (too many risks and disadvantages) not to outsource IT jobs offshore while 31%
expressed different opinion. However, an impressive 40%
finds that offshore outsourcing will negatively
influence the Dutch IT offer and competitive position
while only 27% disregard this possibility. According to
the research, software development, help desk and call
center operations, web design and content management and
IT support are seen as best fit for
offshore outsourcing while consultancy and system
administration are considered to offer less
opportunities. 8% of the organizations already have
offshore operations of some kind (48 organizations),
while 15% (about 90 organizations) would consider it in
the future. |
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