"I can't understand why we continue to pour resources into the industries of the 19th century," Barrett said.
The effort by the technology industry represents an early response to their growing concerns that U.S. lawmakers may clamp down on the practice, known as "offshoring," especially during an election year.
"Countries that resort to protectionism end up hampering innovation and crippling their industries, which leads to lower economic growth and ultimately higher unemployment," said the Washington-based Computer Systems Policy Project, whose member companies include Intel, IBM, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard.
A Commerce Department report last month said increasing numbers of technology jobs are moving from the United States to Canada, India, Ireland, Israel, the Philippines and China--and predicted that "many U.S. companies that are not already offshoring are planning to do so in the near future."
The subject has been the focus of several congressional hearings, and some lawmakers have asked the General Accounting Office for a study on the economic implications of moving technology jobs offshore.
