Can Outsourcing Save Jobs? - ' Support sourcing can create '

Instead of losing U.S. jobs, Andersen argued that support sourcing can create jobs.

Companies may need to hire additional administrative personnel in the United States to support the new line of business overseas, he said.

In addition, high-end integration services may be handled in the United States to back the offshore business.

In another scenario, financially struggling IT services firms may be able to save jobs by moving some work offshore, Andersen said.

"One of the things that allows a lot of companies to survive is the ability to reduce costs by sending certain functions offshore," he said.

Andersen cited the example of one IT company that has been through a couple rounds of downsizing.

That company decided to perform certain functions in India, and the resulting cost reduction let the company slow the pace of layoffs, he added.

In this type of situation, the outsourcing equation boils down to shipping 20 jobs off shore to save 120 at home, Andersen said.

That's cold comfort to IT workers whose jobs end up going abroad.

But in a global economy, this type of compromise could well become commonplace.

Moore is a Ziff Davis Internet Contributing Editor who has covered the information-technology industry for 15 years, focusing on government issues, systems integrators, resellers and channel activities. He writes writes the Contract Watch column and his own column for the Channel Insider.