Do offshore outsourcing firms in the USA use their investments on corporate social responsibility to alleviate negative attitudes toward offshore outsourcing?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is: to determine how offshore outsourcing firms in the USA are involved in providing assistance to education and training the downsized/unemployed; and to conduct inter‐industry comparisons among offshore outsourcing firms to determine if there are differences in their degree of involvement in assisting education and training the downsized/unemployed. Design/methodology/approach - This research is based on a survey of 51 firms in the USA that are listed as major offshore outsourcers and exporters of American jobs in “CNN's Lou Dobbs Exporting America website”. Findings - The findings show that out of eight areas of corporate social activities included in the survey, offshore outsourcing firms indicated that they were least involved in providing or supporting training programs to the downsized/unemployed. However, we also found that offshore outsourcing firms were highly involved in providing assistance to charities and supporting private and public education. Research limitation/implications - The response rate in this survey was similar to other response rates for research conducted on similar topics. However, the sample size for the study is relatively small and results from larger sample sizes are required to make empirical generalizations with confidence. Practical implications - The findings of this study are useful for USA policy makers who are dealing with the negative effects of offshoring. It also provides direction to offshoring firms on how to alleviate negative attitudes toward offshore outsourcing. Originality/value - The paper is the first to investigate the contributions of offshore outsourcing firms to education and training the downsized/unemployed as part of their corporate social responsibility. Thus, it makes a significant contribution to the literature.