Offshoring, industry heterogeneity and employment

This paper assesses the employment impact of offshoring in five European countries (Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom), distinguishing between different types of inputs/tasks offshored, different types of offshoring industries and types of professional groups. The empirical evidence shows that offshoring activities are mainly driven by a cost reduction (labour saving) rationale. This is particularly the case for the manufacturing industry where offshoring is found to exert a negative impact among the less qualified or more routinized types of jobs, while the main difference between high-and low technology industries has to do with the type of labour tasks that are offshored and the types of domestic jobs that are affected. In high-technology industries the negative effects of offshoring on employment are concentrated among managers and crafts. A specular pattern is found in the case of the low-technology industries where job losses are found among manual workers. (c) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This paper assesses the employment impact of offshoring in five European countries and finds that offshoring activities are mainly driven by a cost reduction rationale. The effects of offshoring on employment differ among professional groups in high- and low-technology industries, with negative impacts concentrated among different types of jobs.