New Jersey Governor Restricts State Work Done Offshore

New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey recently signed an executive order that will protect New Jersey jobs by restricting the manner in which state agencies outsource work to foreign countries.

"With the threat of more companies outsourcing their work to add to their bottom line, it is our responsibility to protect our jobs from going over seas," said McGreevey. "I am proud to sign an executive order that will restrict the state from doing business with any company which chooses to take jobs away from our hard working people and send them offshore."

The executive order directs and mandates that state agencies must require vendors (and their subcontractors) seeking state contracts for services to disclose the country in which the services under the contract will be performed.

It also prohibits state agencies from awarding a contract to a vendor (or their subcontractors) performing the services under the contract in a foreign country, unless one of the following conditions is met:

• The vendor or its subcontractor provides a unique service and no comparable domestically-provided service can adequately duplicate the service;


• A significant and substantial economic cost factor exists such that failing to use the vendor's services would result in economic hardship to the State;


• The Treasurer determines that a failure to use the vendor's or subcontractor's services would be inconsistent with the public interest.

Joining the governor at the executive order signing were the Department of Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Kevin P. McCabe, New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech and several labor leaders from throughout the state.

"Today New Jersey takes an important step towards protecting the jobs of its workers," said McCabe. "But to further protect its workforce, New Jersey must maintain its role as a national leader in job training and workforce development. We have trained more than 100,000 workers over the past two and a half years, and furthering that investment will retain existing jobs and create new opportunities."

Projections by Forrester, an information technology consulting firm, predicts that the number of U.S. jobs outsourced will grow from about 400,000 in 2004 to 3.3 million by 2015. According to a report issued by New Jersey Policy Perspective, 492,000 jobs in the state are vulnerable to outsourcing.

The recent signing is just one of the steps Gov. McGreevey has taken to enhance and protect the workforce of New Jersey. To date, the governor has provided customized training grants that allow companies to tailor the training they provide to meet the needs of their workforce and he is opening 18 Business Resource Centers across the state to help businesses find trained workers and provide them with the resources they need to compete in the state. The state also is providing college credit for union apprenticeships.