Career Center: Top career trends
5. Aggressive offshoring will continue. The cost savings are huge, it's becoming more politically acceptable, and overseas firms are getting much better at training their employees to please American firms and consumers.
How to get ahead: Inoculate your job against offshoring if you can by honing offshore-resistant skills: design, marketing, management, and sales, for example. If you feel your work could be shipped overseas, consider switching to a safer field. Some of my favorites: audiologist, librarian, speech therapist, medical equipment technician, physician assistant/nurse practitioner, and electrician. If you think you can't beat 'em, you might want to join 'em. One burgeoning field, for instance, is cross-cultural trainer, people who teach offshore employees how to work successfully for American firms.
advertisement

