Outsourced Abbott Labs Employee: ‘Not a Level Playing Field in This Game Called Globalization’

A white-collar professional at Abbott Labs spoke to Laura Ingraham’s radio show to describe the company’s mass layoffs.

“We were notified that we were going to be outsourced,” the Abbott Labs information-tech professional, who is being replaced by foreign labor and declined to be named due to fear of retribution, told Ingraham. The employee explained that management told him: “Our jobs are being basically eliminated,” he said, without revealing his name. “But in reality [we’]re actually being replaced.”

“Never really got a good explanation of what the reason was. Tid-bits here and there, mostly due to cost-savings,” he added.

There is growing controversy over the outsourcing of professionals’ job to foreign workers. Since October 2015, for example, when Disney outsourced 130 jobs to an Indian company, numerous politicians have complained about the H-1B program.

Last month, Abbott Labs informed 180 of its information-technology workers that they would be laid off. The company has signed a contract with Indian outsourcing firm Wipro Ltd. that will take over the employees’ jobs. According to reports, the workers, before their exit from the company on April 22, are required to train their lower-wage foreign replacements to do their jobs.

Abbott also uses the H-1B visa program to outsource jobs to foreign workers.

According to the Abbott Labs employee, with potential unemployment looming next month, he has few options.

“My prospects for the future aren’t very bright with the trend going on with all companies doing this, the age that I have, there’s not that many places where I can go,” he said.

It is very hard to compete when it’s not a level playing-field in this game called globalization. There’s no way that I can compete with somebody outside of the country — I couldn’t even take less than minimum wage, when you look at the currencies and what the trade value is, you can obviously see why they’re picking India.

The unnamed worker cited Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders as two presidential candidates who are speaking about fixing the problem.

“I’ve heard it all before. Who knows what’s going to happen once they get into office. Are they going to do anything about it or is it just for votes. I have no idea. My trust level in government right now is pretty low,” he said, noting that he is still undecided.

Earlier this month, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) called on Abbott Labs to reconsider the outsourcing.

“It should go without saying that such harsh and insensitive conduct is not justified by whatever marginal financial benefit might accrue to your company, which is already making billions of dollars in profits every year,” he wrote in a letter to CEO Miles D. White.

“Once again, I urge you to restore the jobs of these 180 American IT employees who have served your company with skill and loyalty for many years.”