Ohio Unemployment Forces Government To Restrict Outsourcing To Asian Countries

By Ranjan Bhaduri
Ohio, Sep 13, (THAINDIAN NEWS) In its effort to create more regional job opportunities and cope with the increasing rate of unemployment the state government of Ohio has restricted outsourcing of IT projects funded by government to Asian countries. Ted Strickland the Ohio Governor said in his statement that the offshore service providers have their share of service delivery problems and the clients are often dissatisfied with their quality of work. This comes as a shock for the Indian outsourcing industry which received a blow earlier from the Obama administration’s decision to hike the fee for the H-1B visa. India Inc depends on the US based companies for the majority of their outsourcing jobs.

The Obama administration is on its toes over the high unemployment rate which is verging on the border of 10 percent. The government in US is trying its level best to create more jobs for the residents and the axe on outsourcing is one such endeavor as is being predicted by the veterans. The Ohio unemployment rate is higher than that of the entire nation. However, India Inc will not be hugely affected as the restriction is effective on govt funded projects and not on those run by private MNCs.

Among the leading Indian companies only TCS has a presence in Ohio. As one can expect the Indian IT industry which depends on the US based clients for projects has cried foul over the move by the Ohio state government. The issue of restricting outsourcing to Asian countries including India has been picking momentum for quite some time and it has created tension in the industry.