Ron Hira's analysis of America's changing high-tech workforce ("U.S. Workers in a Global Job Market," Issues, Spring 2009) makes several timely and important points. As he quotes IBM CEO Sam Palmisano, "businesses are changing in fundamental ways-structurally, operationally, culturally-in response to the imperatives of globalization and new technology." Companies can pick and choose where tornlocate based on proximity to markets; the quality of local infrastructure; and the cost of labor, facilities, and capital. When historically U.S.-centered companies diversify globally and integrate their operations, the interests of the companies and their shareholders may diverge from the interests of their U.S. employees.
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