The Companies Offshoring Jobs at a Record Pace Under Trump
Eric Schall March 23, 2018
Trump has not saved many U.S. jobs from outsourcing since taking office, the record shows. | Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
You may remember these words from Donald Trump when he was running for president: “A Trump administration will stop the jobs from leaving America.” But U.S. companies sent thousands of jobs overseas in his first year as president. And many of the companies responsible for offshoring jobs received fat government contracts. In fact, according to employment data charted by Good Jobs Nation and Public Citizen, federal contractors alone outsourced 10,269 jobs while taking over $19 billion in government money.
Never before in U.S. history have federal contractors sent so many jobs overseas. Here are the contractors that are offshoring the most jobs under Donald Trump, including parent company of Carrier (page 7).
1. General Motors
Auto executives won’t be adding U.S. plants any time soon. | Shawn Thew/Getty Images
- Trump administration contracts: $323 million
- Outsourced jobs: 2,781
Trump carried Michigan in the 2016 election, largely on the hopes of a manufacturing revival there. The CEOs of the Detroit automakers went to the White House in January to discuss the many promises Trump made to the industry and they, in turn, made to their employees. Well, those three automakers eliminated over 9,000 jobs since Trump’s victory in November 2017.
GM offshored the most jobs of any top federal contractor in America. Considering the company landed $323 million in government money from Trump, we imagine someone needs to check the receipts.
2. Boeing
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speaks during a town hall with Boeing Company CEO Dennis Muilenburg and employees at the company’s plant on August 24, 2017. | Stephen Brashear/Getty Images
- Trump administration contracts: $9.46 billion
- Outsourced jobs: 2,681
In terms of federal contracts under Trump, Boeing made about half what the rest of the top 100 did combined: $9.46 billion in less than a year. Maybe that’s why House Speaker Paul Ryan took time out of his schedule to visit the Boeing plant in Washington. Ryan was pushing the tax reform plan that would supposedly open up the floodgates for hiring. Apparently, Boeing really need such a tax break because it offshored 2,681 jobs since Trump’s election victory.
3. United Technologies
Donald Trump speaks to workers at Carrier air-conditioning and heating. | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
- Trump administration contracts: $1.07 billion
- Outsourced jobs: 1,414
In December 2016, Trump went to a Carrier plant in Indiana to boast of the 1,100 jobs he was saving in exchange for a $7 million tax credit to the company. A year later, several hundred workers in that plant had lost their jobs. Worse, United Technologies — the company that owns Carrier — basically laughed in the administration’s face by sending another 700 jobs to Mexico in 2017. All told, United Technologies offshored 1,414 jobs while raking in $1.07 billion in federal contracts. If that’s “the art of the deal,” America’s workers are worse off than we imagined.
4. Pfizer
Donald Trump shakes hands with Pfizer CEO Ian Read during a Made in America Week event in July 2017. | Saul Loeb//AFP/Getty Images
- Trump administration contracts: $1.07 billion
- Outsourced jobs: 1,200
You may recall the eventful “Made in America Week” at the White House over the summer. During that week in July, America’s CEOs touted their companies’ achievements in getting things done in the U.S. One business leader on hand was Pfizer CEO Ian Read, whose firm received $1.07 billion in federal contracts under Trump. Despite that windfall, the company offshored 1,200 jobs and faced no consequences.
5. General Electric
General Motors CEO Marya Barra sits with General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt at a an event for Trump administration job efforts in June 2017. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images
- Trump administration contracts: $1.2 billion
- Outsourced jobs: 921
After leaving Trump’s Economic Advisory Council in August, General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt made a strong statement. “The Committee I joined had the intention to foster policies that promote American manufacturing and growth,” he said. With $1.2 billion from the Trump administration, we’re guessing the company had the cash to make it happen, too.
Instead, GE outsourced 921 jobs while Immelt blew $250,000 on personal air travel. We’re not sure you can put workers any further down on the priority list while benefiting more from taxpayer-funded contracts. But hey, the administration and the companies it deals with have several years to go.
6. IBM
A sign outside IBM corporate headquarters in Armonk, New York | Chris Hondros/Getty Images
- Trump administration contracts: $1.55 billion
- Outsourced jobs: 527
While the Trump administration may not be able to reverse global trends, the people in his Cabinet and Congressional majority certainly can control who gets federal contracts. Sadly, that power of the purse has not been used by Trump and his team. In the case of New York-based IBM, 527 jobs already left America since Trump won the election. Meanwhile, the fabulously wealthy corporation racked up $1.55 billion in federal contracts.
7. Merck
More jobs left New Jersey-based Merck despite the $1.6 billion in federal contracts from the Trump administration. | Marko Georgiev/Getty Images
- Trump administration contracts: $1.62 billion
- Outsourced jobs: 254
Things are about the same, only worse, for the workers at the second U.S. company with New Jersey headquarters on this list. Merck won $1.62 billion in federal contacts since Trump took office. Unfortunately, there were no guarantees about keeping that money — or the U.S. jobs it would theoretically create — in the country. According to jobs data, at least 254 Merck jobs left America since Trump’s election.
8. Honeywell
Shipping jobs overseas? | Aneese/iStock/Getty Images
- Trump administration contracts: $1.65 billion
- Outsourced jobs: 202
If you look at the mission statement of New Jersey-based Honeywell, you will read about the company’s “global focus to achieve double-digit earnings growth.” Part of that process involves sending work overseas in order to keep the returns coming for investors.The math worked out pretty well in 2017. For the $1.65 billion in federal contracts, Honeywell offshored 202 jobs.
9. Hewlett Packard
- Trump administration contracts: $1.04 billion
- Outsourced jobs: 125
Hewlett Packard is a multinational computer company, with headquarters in Palo Alto, California. It struggled to keep pace with the ever-changing tech world over the past decade and continues to cut expenses when possible. In September 2017, Bloomberg reported Hewlett Packard plans to cut 5,000 jobs, or about 10% of its job force. It’s also No. 9 in terms of federal contractors offshoring jobs.