Pay Cuts Pummel U.S. Middle Class as Pollina Urges

Submitted by jgm

PR Newswire

March 21, 2006

CHICAGO -- Did you know that the average American who loses their job to outsourcing takes a pay cut of 20% when they are re-employed? Ouch!

"The American middle class faces a bleak future as good paying jobs are outsourced and replaced with lower-paying, often menial McJobs," corporate relocation expert Dr. Ronald R. Pollina warned a news conference at National Manufacturer's Week.

"For every two US jobs lost abroad, we lose at least another US job, a factor we call the reverse multiplier effect," said Dr. Pollina, who unveiled the study, America's Economy In The 21st Century: Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States 2006.

"Washington's job numbers present a deceptive image that distracts from the devastation outsourcing has wrought on Middle America," says Dr. Pollina, president of Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Inc. "No Bureau of Labor Statistics' numbers track underemployment and smaller paychecks among the re- employed. Outsourcing is hastening the decline of the American middle class in the 21st century, while the middle class in China will be larger than the entire US population within ten years."

"Many outsourcers say that US jobs lost to date represent the tip of the proverbial iceberg -- some areas of IT could soon experience a tenfold increase in offshoring, while a half million financial jobs will be offshore by 2008." Dr. Pollina told his audience. "The BLS' ten-year projections indicate that seven of the ten areas of greatest projected job growth are such low-pay service jobs as waiters, janitors, food preparation and cashiers."

Dr. Pollina estimates that "since 2000, approximately 8,500 industrial facilities annually have been closed or significantly vacated as blue-collar jobs move overseas. Since 2003, the equivalent of the Chicago Central Business District has gone dark across America as more professional office jobs are outsourced."

"We also are losing our edge in the sciences-we spend more money annually on litigation than R&D," said Dr. Pollina. "Anyone who believes that we are only experiencing competition that in time will be overcome by superior US ingenuity is not only arrogant, but foolhardy."

Dr. Pollina praised ten US states for policies promoting job retention while helping businesses compete globally. Named as "America's Most Business-Friendly" states were: South Carolina, Virginia, South Dakota, North Carolina, Wyoming, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Alabama and Kansas.