Congressman Neal Warns of Looming White Collar Job Loss

SPRINGFIELD-- Speaking before a Regional Employment Board luncheon at the Sheraton in Springfield, Congressman Richard E. Neal told hundreds of business and workforce development leaders that a weak dollar combined with cheap labor costs in places like China and India could severely impact our economy. He warned, if you "thought outsourcing only affected blue collar workers, think again, because this will impact white collar workers, too." He specifically cited China and India as threats because they could produce an engineer for "ten percent of what it costs here in the United States."

Congressman Neal stated that he has traditionally been in favor of free trade policies, although he voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. Congressman Neal voted for permanent "Most Favored Nation" status for China in 2000 which labor unions lobbied heavily against. The speech delivered today seemed to indicate the Congressman may be rethinking whether free trade policies as they are currently negotiated are beneficial to Americans.

Neal said that the best chance for America was to discover the "next big thing" to help the United States continue its economic prosperity. Though he couldn't say for sure what that would be he offered that the biotechnology field presented some hope.