Loss of jobs due to outsourcing, half to India, sparks anger in the US

The dramatic loss of jobs in the United States, an estimated 1.3 million that would be moved offshore by the end of the decade, half to India has sparked anger in the US.

A two-day conference instructing companies on moving technology work and other jobs overseas drew picketers, in one of the first demonstrations protesting the practice to hit the San Francisco Bay Area.

Faced with an electoral backlash, some U.S. states have legislated to ban government agencies from moving tech services overseas and unions are fighting what they see as an alarming trend.

The outsourcing of jobs to China and India is not new, but lately it has earned a chilling new adjective: professional. Advances in communications technology have enabled white-collar jobs to be shipped from the United States and Europe as never before, and the outcry from workers who once considered themselves invulnerable is creating a potent political force.

But the NASSCOM study by New York-based business research consultancy Evalueserve said a combination of skilled immigration and "offshoring" of jobs was vital to head off a looming labour shortfall of 5.6 million by 2010 that would undermine the U.S. economy.