Manufacturers account for nearly two-thirds of all outsourcing The electronics industry's subcontracting manufacturing sector is growing faster than overall electronics sales. Nestl Corp . may own 495 plants world-wide, but subcontractors produce more than half its production and almost half its packaging. Big pharmaceutical firms are relying on small specialized biotech production companies. GM outsources about 55 percent of its work, Ford 62 percent and Chrysler 67 percent, compared to 75 percent for Japanese automakers. Of course, not only manufacturing workers are affected.
Information services is a growth industry for subcontractors.
D.C. Companies from the Philippines to Ireland are vying for U.S. office jobs. School districts contract for services like cleaning. Then again, UE Local 792 members at Wright State University are employed by the university's food-service subcontractor. They have benefited from the 1990s growth in outsourcing, but their jobs, too, may be in danger. Sub-suppliers are providing hundreds of individual parts to main suppliers.