Globalization, offshoring and jobs

The labour market consequences of globalization in general, and offshoring in particular, have been hotly debated in recent public discussions and academia, in particular in industrialized countries. One of the reasons for this may be illustrated with reference to the World Investment Report 2004 (UNCTAD, 2004), which provides examples of recent offshoring cases in services industries in the United Kingdom, and the employment changes involved. Barclays Bank, for instance, is reported to have offshored 500 back-office staff to India. When such numbers are picked up in the media, there is a presumption that 500 jobs have been destroyed in the United Kingdom as a net effect of this offshoring. In fact, the calculation is, of course, more complicated.