Our CEO, also the program chair of HRO World hosted by LRP Conferences, answers the numerous questions and comments he has fielded about the opening session.
 
To the attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors at HRO World in New York, I wanted to personally express my apologies for the opinions expressed by the keynote speaker, Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times Business Bureau, at New York HR Week, which included the HRO World Conference and Exposition. 
 
While I appreciate that conferences are a locus for debate, I sharply disagree with Greenhouse’s highly politicized view of the plight of the American worker, and I especially do not ascribe to his ill-informed bashing of the outsourcing industry as a root cause. Even more so, I do not think HRO World was the proper venue to espouse his skewed viewpoint.
 
I was aware of the invitation to Greenhouse to speak, and though it was not my final decision on the keynote, I was consulted and take full responsibility for the negative sentiment he may have engendered.
 
I have also expressed to LRP, the conference organizers, my disappointment. I wanted to convey my personal embarrassment and apology to any who attended or sponsored since your support of the program may have been dampened by the content of opening remarks that were so negative about our industry.
 
Unlike Greenhouse, I think globalization of world trade has been enhanced by the HRO industry, and the actions of a few insensitive employers who are highlighted in his book do little to diminish our global benefits. Frankly, Greenhouse is among the same group of people who would decry that our wealthy nation does not do enough for the impoverished of the world. The BPO industry has done more to export free market ideals, elevate standards of living, and eradicate poverty in India, China, Philippines, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Singapore, Eastern Europe than 50 years of United Nations programming.
 
As for the American worker, competition needs to be embraced as in other areas of free market economies. In the long term, competition is still a powerful force, and U.S. multi-nationals still drive the global economy; our work force is shifting and evolving. From a labor economic viewpoint, to focus on what is called “frictional” changes or the workers displaced by change is disingenuous. It is like doing an article about bringing back key punch machines because so many key punch operators from the 1980s needed retraining in the 1990s.
 
It is unfortunate that he was able to use the platform at HRO World to bash the industry with abandon. While the conference was not as well attended as in prior years due to economic circumstances and other reasons, approximately 900 HR leaders heard his speech. Ironically, I heard good feedback on other sessions. I want to assure all of our readers that have reached out in e-mail and letters that your voices have been heard. It was a bad opening to the HRO World conference and I owe the industry a mea culpa.
 
I also want to reiterate that while I believe the HRO industry is evolving, HRO Today believes this industry has a vibrant future, and we discuss aspects of the evolution in this issue. This industry has done great things for clients, and we should both analyze and celebrate the great accomplishments of the HRO industry at our industry events.