Thread regarding IBM layoffs

@d7

Exactly right. The analysis in the article is quite limiting, as you said, it doesn't understand that skilled workers were laid off, and it doesn't understand that you can cap the measure to companies of. a certain size.

I found the analysis quite "shallow" and not quite informed or thought out.

Good points but they have laid off so many good workers in the US in the past few years to move jobs to India those skills could easily be hired back. Especially for bigger companies. Maybe they should say revenue over $1B to not effect smaller companies.

@OP

I haven't seen anything recent new in the US media, but this one (opinion article, from my perspective way off):

https://news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights-and-commentary/week-in-insights-hire-act-would-make-it-pricy-to-be-competitive

Week in Insights: HIRE Act Would Make It Pricy to Be Competitive
Sept. 21, 2025, 10:02 AM EDT

Congress wants to tax outsourcing of services—but practically speaking, it may end up taxing the cost of staying competitive. That’s the core flaw with the Halting International Relocation of Employment Act, or HIRE Act, a proposal to levy a 25% excise tax on payments made by US companies to foreign entities that provide services to US consumers.

The bill aims to discourage offshoring, fund retraining, and encourage companies to hire domestically. But it’s functionally a service-sector tariff dressed in Apollo Creed shorts. Without an immediate source of fully trained domestic workers, the tax would drive up information technology costs, set back modernization efforts, and hurt corporate balance sheets.

The legislation also denies tax deductions for outsourcing payments. The message is clear: US companies relying on foreign services must be ready to pay for the privilege.

The immediate effect would be higher costs of doing business in the digital economy, rather than job creation. Companies would need to hike prices, cut budgets (including labor costs), or delay investment in new developments.

Under the HIRE Act, inflationary pressures likely would hit small and midsized firms first and hardest, as they’re the least likely to have domestic hiring capacity to replace offshore talent. A small software development company that outsources programming to India probably wouldn’t be able to hire a half dozen domestic developers, but they also may be in no position to pass a 25% cost increase on to their customers. That’s a recipe for disaster.

Protecting workers is a noble endeavor, but domestic training must precede any attempt to penalize global hiring. Otherwise, you’re not reshoring jobs—you’re just taxing an inescapable economic reality.