U.S. Rep. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) introduced a bill Tuesday requiring large, American-based, multinational corporations to disclose how many jobs they have outsourced.
Currently, public filings disclose the current number of employees in a given company. The Outsourcing Accountability Act of 2012 (HR 3875) would require firms with revenues of more than $1 billion to report how many employees they have in the United States broken down by state; jobs abroad would have to be broken down by country.
On the next day, Vice President Joe Biden was in Grand Rapids calling for changes in how the United States handles companies that send jobs and revenue overseas.
That means ending tax breaks for companies that relocate outside the country and extending incentives to those willing to move back, Biden said while visiting the 125-year-old American Seating Co. plant, The Detroit News reported.
Peters and lead co-sponsors Reps. Tim Bishop (NY) and Jerry McNerney (CA) wrote in a statement that they hope the bill will help consumers when attempting to “buy American.”
“All jobs are not created equal, and Americans deserve to know whether the jobs a company is creating are in America or overseas,” Bishop said in the statement. “The first step in incentivizing the creation of jobs in America is having an honest assessment of our companies’ employment practices and empowering the American people to reward good corporate citizens who hire American workers, if they choose to do so.”
In addition to consumers, “responsible” investors will appreciate the information, Peters added.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that of 515 distinct occupations, 160 may be susceptible to transfer offshore. According to a report in the Washington Post, some big firms, including General Electric and Wal-Mart, already reveal how many employees work in this country versus abroad.
Source: Bloomfield Patch
