The Washington Post this morning writes on efforts by Pakistanis in the United States to build the offshoring industry in their country, but rightly so the author keeps a skeptical outlook. While Pakistanis in the U.S. hope to bring home some of the $12.8 billion that India generated in outsourcing last year, U.S. companies mentioned sizable security and infrastructure risks. One Rockville, MD-based company visited Pakistan recently to tour call-center facilities “escorted by armed guards” and acknowledged that “‘The power grid’s not stable, so once a month, workers might lose a day and a half.’”

According to this article, the purchase decision for U.S. companies comes down to price - $6 per hour to have a programmer test out new code. Yet this model does not seem sustainable. Pakistan clearly needs infrastructure development, but that will be expensive. So if they install this expensive infrastructure, the costs will be passed on to clients, who will then be paying more, and the chief benefit of offshoring is dimisnished. The instability of these growing operations is likely to hurt, not help, American companies over the long run.