This InfoWorld article portrays a positive outlook for companies that consider outsourcing with respect to employees who have their current jobs outsourced elsewhere. Survey results indicate that while an overwhelming majority of employees are anxious about their futures prior to an outsourcing event that post-outsourcing a majority of employees are more satisfied with positions after the transition. From the article:

The poll, conducted in Europe and commissioned by IT services company LogicaCMG, examined the opinions of 200 employees in large organizations before, during, and after their positions were outsourced. While a majority of those surveyed, 84 percent, felt apprehensive at the prospect of having their positions outsourced, around 70 percent said that they were more satisfied with the new roles they were given following the transition.

One important thing to note, however, is that employment and labor laws differ between the United States and Europe in that European laws are more employee-friendly in the outsourcing area. The article goes on to point out:

Outsourcing is often confused with offshoring, Dunn said, which involves moving jobs to lower-cost markets such as India, while outsourcing involves a company's decision to move a particular operation or function out-of-house. When companies outsource, European regulations stipulate that affected employees retain the same conditions they had in their previous positions ...

Does this nullify the relevance of the study to US employees? Perhaps. However, I do find that articles like this one highlight the importance of showing everyone the light at the end of the tunnel when working an organization through change.

Steve Shu