40 MILLION JOBS TO BE OUTSOURCED?(ZT)

40 MILLION JOBS OUTSOURCED?

Economist Alan Blinder raisedeyebrows this spring when he estimated as many as 40 million U.S. jobscould potentially be outsourced. He sees a painful transition asworkers in even well-paid services lose out to cheaper foreign labor.

"It'sgone beyond call centers and other relatively low-wage jobs," saidBlinder, a former White House economic adviser who now teaches atPrinceton University.

Blinder describes a divide between peoplewho provide "impersonal" services that require little face-to-faceinteraction, such as radiologists, and those with truly hands-on jobslike taxi drivers or janitors. The second group will fare much betterin a global economy, he said.

In 20 years, he expects carpentersto make more money than computer programmers. That means the U.S.education system needs to do a better job of preparing the nextgeneration for the type of work that will exist.

But that's along-term fix and for Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, itdoes not help her address questions from her constituents who areanxious about their jobs.

"There is a sense of insecurity that is palpable," she said. "Enough of the debate. Let's get to the specifics."