Office of Marketing Communications

Outsourcing, the practice of locating IT services and other business processes in offshore locations, is a recent phenomenon birthed from expanded communication capabilities and lower salary demands of international workers. With newspapers reporting on the potential for massive job losses – fueling concern among IT workers – the Colorado Institute for Technology (CIT) decided to determine realistic expectations of the phenomenon. Manuel Serapio, associate professor of international business, conducted a comprehensive survey for CIT on outsourcing and its effect on Colorado. He published his study findings in November 2004 and will hold an open discussion on the conclusions and their meaning in the short and long term April 20, 7:30-10 a.m. in the Executive Programs room 150.

“The concern over high-tech job losses to international outsourcing is particularly great in Colorado, given the importance of high-tech to the state’s economy,” Serapio said. With 98 out of every 1,000 private-sector workers in Colorado in the tech industries, Colorado ranks first in the country in IT jobs.

In his study, Serapio reviewed recent studies on international outsourcing with an emphasis on reports that provided estimates and projections on the magnitude of the practice. He examined the projections for the United States in general and Colorado in particular, and in the report discussed the implications of IT international outsourcing for Colorado.

IT workers, Serapio found, do have reason for concern for the loss of jobs in Colorado. However, not to the extent initial reports in metro area newspapers indicated.

“Offshoring is prevalent, and Colorado jobs in IT have been and will be lost to international outsourcing,” Serapio concluded. “However, the study also showed that the numbers of IT jobs lost from offshoring are likely to be less than the tens of thousands of jobs which initial popular reports have led us to believe.”

Most of the study’s respondents expressed confidence that IT jobs lost to international outsourcing can and will be replaced. “However,” Serapio cautioned, “they temper this optimism with a cautionary note – Colorado IT workers will have to continue to move up the value chain and acquire new and higher-level skills to make them competitive in the global marketplace.”

For a copy of the report, contact CIT at http://www.coloradoit.org/ or Serapio at manual.serapio@cudenver.edu.