Think Your Job Won't Go Overseas? Think Again

If you think your job is immune to offshoring, think again.

AP

A study conducted by CareerBuilder.com and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, found that 28 percent of the employers surveyed who offshored expect more of their high-skill positions to be shipped overseas.

Among the jobs respondents identified as positions they plan to offshore are computer programmers, sales managers, general managers, human resources personnel, software developers, system analysts, customer service representatives, marketing personnel and graphic designers.

Not surprising, the primary reason for offshoring is cost. Forty-nine percent of employers said they saved over $20,000 for each job that was moved overseas.

Although reducing expenses is one of the main reasons for offshoring, American jobs are increasingly being "offshored for reasons other then cost," says Lorin Hitt, associate professor of Operations and Information Management at the Wharton School.

Employers who are looking to expand their business globally are moving jobs to "destinations that are closer to their customers," says Hitt.

For the most part, jobs that are moved out of the U.S. are going to India:  44  percent of employers said they sent jobs there, followed by China (24 percent), Mexico (12 percent), Canada (9 percent), Germany (8 percent), The Philippines (7 percent) and Britain (7 percent).

While offshoring does eliminate jobs from Americans, the survey, which was completed by 3,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals, found that 28 percent of employers who offshore jobs said that it allowed them to create new positions in the United States.

Joseph Pisani is a news associate at CNBC.com. He can be reached at .

© 2008 CNBC.com