The Impact Of Outsourcing On Rural Communities

What happens to a rural town when the largest employer outsources all the jobs overseas?

1 minute read

March 29, 2004, 9:00 AM PST

The Travelocity call center, which employs 2,500, is the largest employer in the remote Appalachian town of Clintwood, Virginia. Travelocity effectively "plugged the town's 1,500 residents into the global high-tech economy, offering the prospect of a secure future... This illusion crumbled last month when Travelocity fired Clintwood, saying it would close the call center by year-end and move all the jobs to India. The Internet, far from being the town's salvation, is threatening it with collapse... These towns' struggles also show some of the difficulties that many communities will encounter if, as experts predict, outsourcing continues to grow. More than a quarter of the 2.25 million call-center jobs in the U.S. are expected to go offshore."

Thanks to Chris Steins

FULL STORY: U.S. Towns Feel Pinch of Job Shift to Overseas

Saturday, March 27, 2004 in The Los Angeles Times

Community / Economic Development United States

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