Reflections upon "Sizing the emerging global labor market"

This article provides a different viewpoint to the article "Sizing the Emerging Global Labor Market, written by Diana Farrell et al. in this issue of Perspectives. The article and the important report Farrell and her colleagues at the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI 2005) completed in late 2005 provide much food for thought regarding offshoring of service jobs. The accompanying article gives only a flavor of the results, while the report contains the most detailed micro-level analysis available of the employment impacts of offshoring upon specific sectors. In contrast to the report's rather muted conclusion regarding the dimensions and implications of services offshoring, a more comprehensive reading suggests a profound transformation of the employment and wage structure for many college-educated Americans is underway.(1).