Offshoring, industry heterogeneity and employment

tThis 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 showsthat offshoring activities are mainly driven by a cost reduction (labour saving) rationale. This is particu-larly the case for the manufacturing industry where offshoring is found to exert a negative impact amongthe 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 domesticjobs that are affected. In high-technology industries the negative effects of offshoring on employment areconcentrated among managers and crafts. A specular pattern is found in the case of the low-technologyindustries where job losses are found among manual workers.