The impact of a factory shutting down can be great. When a
factory closes down, U.S. companies that supply certain
services to the factory are also hurt. Surrounding businesses
such as restaurants and other service industries may shut
down due to the loss of customers. This also leads to the loss of
the tax base, which supports government establishments such
as schools, police, and fire departments. This results in even
more unemployment and has been the cause for the financial
downfall of countless U.S. towns and cities (McCormack 2009).
The manufacturing process is not the only business process
commonly outsourced, however. Many different types of whitecollar jobs are now outsourced too. Engineering and design
usually follow the manufacturing process out of the country,
both to cut costs and because engineering and design are
closely collaborated with manufacturing. Many office worker
jobs are now leaving the country. Call center operators are one
of the most common office jobs outsourced. Clerical workers
such as financial analysts and accountants are often
outsourced as well as design drafters for a large range of
products. Software jobs and IT jobs such as programmers are
also leaving the country (Armour and Kessler 2003).