A panel of IT-services company executives at the Gartner Outsourcing Summit in Los Angeles last week downplayed the impact offshore IT outsourcing will have on U.S. jobs. Vivek Paul, CEO of India-based Wipro Technologies, said his company's customers are moving ahead despite concerns about offshore IT outsourcing raised by various IT worker organizations that have formed to fight the trend. Offshore outsourcing "is good for the U.S. economy, and it's good for globalization," Paul said. He cautioned against proposed legislation to restrict L-1 visas, as companies such as Wipro rely on those visas to bring project managers and other employees into the United States to strategize with clients. Visa restrictions, Paul said, "would raise the cost of doing business for everyone in this room."

But the tech industry must do more to improve options for workers displaced by offshore outsourcing, said Scott Ayer, president of offshore application services at EDS. "Customers are concerned about what it means for their people" when jobs are sent offshore.